What are the Internet Scary Hoaxes You Used to Believe in?

[SeroVich]

There are things on the internet that are scary, and seemingly true. Like those strange creepypastas some random person sent to you or an internet urban legend that you heard. 100% it was Bloody Mary.... Sheesh, even though I know it is just a hoax, and the REAL Bloody Mary is even more horrifying (Mary the First, Queen of England), just writing this name gives me a feeling of dread.... So, tell me what are yours.

[nav]

When I accidentally encountered my first SCP article, some part of my brain briefly wondered if it's a real thing. Preposterous, but it happened. Other than that, the only creepypasta that makes me slightly shudder is the spelunking one; Ted the Caver, I think. Conveys the terror of darkness and claustrophobia really well. It's not that I believed it to be true at any point, but rather than when you're alone in the dark, your mind can come up with all sorts of scary thoughts. I consider myself a rational person, but I still find solitude in darkness unslettling. And after I had my first sleep paralysis experience (felt like something was creeping along my spine towards my head), I was afraid of falling asleep for several days. Irrational, but overpowering.

[SeroVich]

When I accidentally encountered my first SCP article, some part of my brain briefly wondered if it's a real thing. Preposterous, but it happened.

Yeah dude, for me, SCP-096 was so scary, I've to search up if SCP itself is real. What is so funny that I've been scared by a tall, creepy pale skinned man twice; which isn't much, but it's kind of weird that it happened twice.

[degradingwindow]

The only internet hoax that I remembered falling for was the NASA standing broom hoax. It was basically when NASA one day said that February 10th 2020 was the only day brooms would be able to stand up straight because of Earth's gravitational pull. I actually believed it (NASA is supposed to be a reliable source) and I went around the house standing up all my brooms and taking pictures of them to commemorate the moment.

But then I realized it was fake halfway through the day when I read a post debunking it online, I was genuinely disappointed.
(Although this does make me ponder on how easy it was for NASA to trick a lot of people into believing it and what it could imply for other things they say.)

[Tengukami]

to my great shame, i fell for the bonzai kittens hoax

had me seething for a week before someone gently explained to me this was fake and i was dumb

[jankop]

This will sound really stupid, but when I was little I was afraid of a YouTube channel called "Webdriver Torso". I just checked their channel after years and it seems like they still upload content occasionally. I case you haven't heard of it, it's just a channel full of really short videos with red and blue squares. I remember seeing a video late at night calling it "the work of French spies" and stuff and got really scared.

[SeroVich]

This will sound really stupid, but when I was little I was afraid of a YouTube channel called "Webdriver Torso". I just checked their channel after years and it seems like they still upload content occasionally. I case you haven't heard of it, it's just a channel full of really short videos with red and blue squares. I remember seeing a video late at night calling it "the work of French spies" and stuff and got really scared.

I checked out his channel, and watched one of his videos. It is just a red and blue rectangular shapes going to random positions with a loud and annoying noise. No wonder you got scared as a kid, due to the mysteriousness of his videos and how loud they are.

[SeroVich]

to my great shame, i fell for the bonzai kittens hoax

The heck is the bonzai kitten? 

[nav]

to my great shame, i fell for the bonzai kittens hoax

had me seething for a week before someone gently explained to me this was fake and i was dumb

Apparently the FBI believed it too, so you're in good company. Or bad company, depending on your outlook.