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Most Popular Urban Legends of 2015

These are the 25 urban legends that circulated the most widely on the Internet in 2015.

Published Dec. 28, 2015

This page compiles the 25 urban legends that circulated the most widely on the Internet in 2015, as determined by frequency of access, user searches, reader e-mail, and media coverage.


1) FALSE: Posting a legal notice on your Facebook wall will protect your copyright and privacy rights.


2) FALSE: Mark Zuckerberg is giving away $4.5 million to Facebook users who share a "thank you" message.


3) FALSE: Red Bull and other brands of energy drink contain bull semen.


4) FALSE: The body of a homeless man found in San Diego was identified as that of Elvis Presley.


5) FALSE: Donald Trump said Republicans were "dumbest group of voters" in a 1998 People interview.


6) FALSE: Facebook will soon start charging users a monthly fee for using their social network.


7) MIXTURE: A comparison of the salaries of top executives of several large charitable organizations.


8) FALSE: Oranges from Libya have been injected with HIV-positive blood and pose a danger of infection.


9) FALSE: Pope Francis said belief in God is not necessary to be a good person.


10) FALSE: NASA confirmed the world will experience 15 straight days of darkness.


11) FALSE: Fashion CEO Michael Kors said he is tired of "pretending to like blacks."


12) FALSE: Country music legend Willie Nelson has died.


13) FALSE: The coffee chain Starbucks removed all mentions of Christmas from their red holiday cups because "they hate Jesus."


14) FALSE: The FDA discovered that the Arizona Beverage Company uses human urine in many of their products.


15) FALSE: Terrorists have acquired a large number of "missing" UPS uniforms.


16) FALSE: The FBI has revealed that no murders occurred in Newtown, Connecticut, in 2012, inadvertently admitting that the Sandy Hook massacre was an elaborate hoax.


17) FALSE: President Obama has signed a new law lowering the drinking age to 18.


18) FALSE: A video documents that the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School were a staged hoax.


19) OUTDATED: An ISIS "kill list" targets several U.S. cities and towns.


20) FALSE: An Indian woman gave birth to eleven baby boys all at once.


21) FALSE: The planet Mars will make a once-in-our-lifetimes, remarkably close approach to Earth.


22) FALSE: A directory of cell phone numbers is being released to telemarketers.


23) FALSE: By participating in a Facebook "secret sister" gift exchange, you'll receive 36 gifts (or books) in exchange for one $10 contribution.

 
Reverse PIN Alarm

24) FALSE: Entering your PIN in reverse at any ATM will summon the police.


25) MIXTURE: President Obama appointed Fatima Noor as the head of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in the Department of Homeland Security.

David Mikkelson founded the site now known as snopes.com back in 1994.