BBC News’ Mark Easton writes:
“Some hoaxes are for financial gain. Others for revenge or to make some political point. But this falls into that category of hoax motivated by the sheer pleasure of seeing people all around the world fall for it…The BBC now runs courses on how to avoid being hoaxed – not least because we have been rather spectacularly fooled in the past. Some viewers get satisfaction, apparently, by seeing their fake or retouched photographs being published.”