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1. Hello, fake news site pretending to be ABC News (cc the real @ABC).
Based on historical WhoIs registration records, this domain appears to have been purchased from a domain squatter in China on 9/22/18 and then registered in Macedonia.
Based on historical WhoIs registration records, this domain appears to have been purchased from a domain squatter in China on 9/22/18 and then registered in Macedonia.
2. Even though the domain was purchased in 2018, the first time Archive showed it had content on it was February of this year.
It listed one author for all the articles - "Bob Miller".
It listed one author for all the articles - "Bob Miller".
3. Looking at archived pages of the site from earlier this year shows a rather blank page about authors ("[starbox id=1]" and so on rather than author names), however. It also says "ABC 14 News is run by volunteers," which of course the real @ABC does not.
![3. Looking at archived pages of the site from earlier this year shows a rather blank page about authors ("[starbox id=1]" and so on rather than author names), however. It also says "ABC 14 News is run by volunteers," which of course the real @ABC does not.](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EVgHk6oWkAg1hRO.jpg "3. Looking at archived pages of the site from earlier this year shows a rather blank page about authors (\"[starbox id=1]\" and so on rather than author names), however. It also says \"ABC 14 News is run by volunteers,\" which of course the real @ABC does not.")
4. "Bob" appears to have decided on a name change - the current version of the site has his name listed as "Brandon G. Jones" though his wordpress author account is still "bob."
The image used for Bob now Brandon also appears to be AI generated, I believe.
The image used for Bob now Brandon also appears to be AI generated, I believe.
5. As is normal for these kinds of sites, the content is a mix of hyperpartisan, clickbait, conspiracy, etc. How successful can a spoof site like this be in such a short time period? Well, it's top "story" about coronavirus has had more than 100k engagements on Facebook.
6. I found the site while researching another fake site that's promoting a false story also on "ABC14" about coronavirus deaths. The story is all over social media, but started on 4chan. A 4chan user thought the "ABC14" site was real and that it's evidence the false post is true.
