What was the biggest hoax in the history of the Atlas Forum?

[hawkeye59]

Was it Wyatt Chesney? Was it Yates? Or was it something else?

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

I'll have to go with Yates.

[ilikeverin]

Yates

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

Option 1 - Whichever of you is really Keystone Phil........I still don't think he left.

Option 2 - Lunar.

[Psychic Octopus]

Alright, someone is going to tell me the whole story of Yates. I've seen the "I'm dying" thread, but he lied about it or something?

[phk]

A tie between Yates and JSojo.-

[Hash]

Yates, definitely. Everybody bought into the cancer hoax at the outset, and everybody actually cared and sent 'emails' to his "cousin". It's too bad since Yates wasn't all that bad and his timeline was almost epic.

[hawkeye59]

Yates, definitely. Everybody bought into the cancer hoax at the outset, and everybody actually cared and sent 'emails' to his "cousin". It's too bad since Yates wasn't all that bad and his timeline was almost epic.

Who was his "cousin"?

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Alright, someone is going to tell me the whole story of Yates. I've seen the "I'm dying" thread, but he lied about it or something?

https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=56506.0
https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=56873.0
https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=58663.0

Read all of those in order and you'll have the whole story.

[Psychic Octopus]

After reading the story, i'll have to say that Yates was the worst, then Jsojourner, and then the one where Phil died in Italy.

[Cubby]

Does anybody remember Miss Catholic? She pretended to be a girl but was really a dude.

Phil pretending to be Jessica Walterstein

JSojourner

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

Yates.

[Хahar 🤔]

the one where Phil died in Italy

Assad's crap?

[Hash]

Phil pretending to be Jessica Walterstein

That can never be considered a major hoax. It broke down in a matter of days.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

The Yates thing was the cruelest, though I don't know about the biggest - it's difficult to measure this sort of thing. But quite a few people here were hurt by that. The Joel one could have ended very badly though; with people being scammed financially.

You have to draw a line between that sort of stuff and the Jsojourner scandal; that was 'just' someone with mental health issues trolling the internets. Socking, not hoaxing.

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

Most of these are pretty lame so far as "hoaxes" are concerned.

And further, it's absolutely counterproductive to give these any more air time than they deserve. If you all keep celebrating these things, they'll keep happening to you. Don't underestimate the sheer number of drama whores around who just want to see their name in print.

[Hash]

In retrospect, Yates' fraud was actually easy to spot, but nobody suspected it because he was a well-liked respected member.

Seriously, how many people who alledgedly have terminal brain cancer and about to die in a months time post on a political forum (this was Yates' second-to-last real post, lol)? He was also a 26-year old with one of the largest incomes in the whole US.

[Peter]

In retrospect, Yates' fraud was actually easy to spot, but nobody suspected it because he was a well-liked respected member.

I strongly suspected a fiction when I first read the post: I never raised my concerns publically because I didn't want to be eviscerated. However, I never replied to any of his threads seeking sympathy. I believe that to this day he posts on the forum under an account viewed as a legitimate poster.

[Gustaf]

To be fair, the reason the Yates hoax got so big was that it was the first major hoax perpetrated here, meaning that a lot of people were very naive about it, myself included. I mean, it never entered my mind that someone would maintain a fake account for months and months and then terminate it by pretending they had cancer.

Today I'd be suspicious from the outset.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

The Joel thing could've only resulted in a monetary scam if some people were very very stupid and a hell of a lot less savvy than you'd expect people on a political forum to be.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

The Joel thing could've only resulted in a monetary scam if some people were very very stupid and a hell of a lot less savvy than you'd expect people on a political forum to be.

Quite a lot of people here were then (and are now) very, very stupid. Of course it was such a badly put together hoax that there was never any chance of it getting that far, but...

[Filuwaúrdjan]

And further, it's absolutely counterproductive to give these any more air time than they deserve. If you all keep celebrating these things, they'll keep happening to you. Don't underestimate the sheer number of drama whores around who just want to see their name in print.

This is true, actually.

[Psychic Octopus]

the one where Phil died in Italy

Assad's crap?

I haven't been able to find the thread, though.

[Hash]

the one where Phil died in Italy

Assad's crap?

I haven't been able to find the thread, though.

Don't worry. Your life won't change much if you read it or you don't.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Most of his stuff was deleted and he had his posting name changed, fwiw.