General News of Monday, 18 January 2010

Source: chattarbox

Sick Earthquake Texting Hoax Created Panic

Proving once again how sickeningly far some people will go for a prank, some text hoaxers took advantage of the Haiti earthquake to send out a fake text predicting another in Ghana over the weekend.

The text falsely quoted the BBC and NASA, saying that cosmic rays were set to hit earth, causing a major earthquake similar to the 7.0 that hit Haiti.

Panicked citizens began to prepare, sending the text to their friends and family. Many slept outdoors.

The first text stated:

“Today’s night 12:30 to 3:30am COSMO RAYS entering earth from Mars. Switch off ur mobiles today’s night.?NASA BBC NEWS ? Plz pass to all ur friends.”

From there the panic grew, and thought he government and the BBC worked to calm fears and alert the public to the hoax, the damage was done.

It isn’t known where the text originated from, but it is being investigated.