April Fools, these fake sports tweets probably got you too

We all want to be first. First in line for whatever you’re buying, first to discover new talent, first to see that blockbuster hit. In the media, we also want to be first to a story. You probably do too. That might be why you’re on Twitter — to follow the “Woj Bombs” or Schefter’s BREAKING news. But in that rush to be first, some of us get it wrong. Like, really wrong. I know I’ve been duped before.

Fake social media accounts have existed for years. Hell, they’ve even messed with American democracy. But in the sports world, we have some fake accounts too. And, don’t lie, you’ve fallen for ’em like the rest of us.

Beware of the internet today. You will get played. Check the handles before you share. But if you need some examples to set you straight, kindly continue scrolling.

This is the most recent example of note. Some person with the handle @TuaNeedsHelp posed as Adam Schefter, using the photo and style as the veteran reporter. The tweet was so convincing, the worldwide leader ran with it in a story. They also mentioned the tweet on a live SportsCenter show.

“No ESPN reporters reported on Gailey or the Dolphins, or were involved in the error, which was made internally,” the company said in a statement.

I tried looking up what @TuaNeedsHelp is up to now. Like many of these fake accounts, he’s hard to find or straight up banned from twitter.

There’s a guy on the internet who goes by the name Barry. He’s notorious for posing as sports journalists and duping reporters, pundits, and fans. Via a now banned account, he got Peter King to believe Antonio Brown actually told Derek Carr “I don’t listen to no wack ass Trump supporters.”

Later, he deleted the tweet and apologized for posting it.

The real Ian Rapoport thought the whole thing was “kind of funny.” He spoke to Jimmy Traina on the SI Media Podcast about the incident and dealing with fake accounts. “It does happen where GMs or agents will call me and be like, ‘How can you report it?’ I’m like, ‘Hang on, are you sure I reported it? You checked for the blue checkmark?’”

Obviously, many don’t check for the check.

Unfortunately not. But there were a ton of people who thought Kaep was going to New York.

The fake tweet spread so fast that Morgan Freeman, Donna Brazile, and others outside of the sportsworld caught wind of the “news” and promoted it via their social media accounts.

Kaepernick’s girlfriend, Nessa Diab, used the viral post as a way to call on the Jets, or any team for that matter, to sign the QB.

Kawhi to the Lakers would’ve been a Woj nuclear bomb. Instead, it was a false alarm.

Someone faked a Woj account, copying his name, photo, and reporting style, and wrote “Free Agent Kawhi Leonard agrees to a 4-year, $144 million dollar maximum deal with the Los Angeles Lakers, sources tell ESPN.”

The twitter user was verified so it looked especially real. But later, he took the post down and said he was hacked. Suuuuuure.

In 2014, Deadspin reported that Jim Bowden, a former MLB GM turned broadcaster, stole a “scoop” from a fake Joel Sherman page (@JoelSherman). The NYP baseball writer, Joel Sherman, can be found at @JoelSherman1. I know, it’s confusing.

Upon hearing the news, Bowden vanished from his account. He has created a new one since then.

If you’ve gotten this far in the slideshow, you know by now to check the handle before a retweeting. So ask yourself, does @RealDickTator sound legit to you? You know the answer.

Whoever was behind the now suspended account claimed to work for ESPN and “broke” some fake news about Johnny Manziel. Still, Johnny football wanted to clear the air on these “reports,” retweeting Tator and writing “false” on a now deleted post.

ESPN’s not the only major network to be duped into believing a fake reporter. In 2014, MLB posted a tweet from @Ken_Rosenthal_ thinking it was the veteran baseball writer Ken Rosenthal.

Cut out that last underscore and you’ll land on a verified page with 1.1 million followers.

FS1 loudmouth, Skip Bayless, thought a fake report on twitter about James Harden and CP3 was real. We all know the two former teammates had beef. But apparently, the “report” alleged that Chris Paul made fun of James Harden’s man boobs… which is just not true. But that didn’t stop Bayless from believing the “scoop” and talking about it on his show.

Ok, no, stop it. If you actually fell for this one, now might be the time to log off. Today is not your day to be online.