The internet hums, and not always with the sounds we want to hear. Sometimes they are melodic tones of information, but sometimes they are dissonant tones of deception. Imagine opening your browser, typing in the name of your favorite news magazine, and landing on a page that looks amazingly real. But the content? Completely distorted and sometimes even dangerously wrong.
The title of the article on the fake “Spiegel” website: “Green politics is ruining the economy and the environment”

Sheepskin Media: A New Trend of Deception
In the past it might have been fake emails or fraudulent advertisements. Today there are entire websites that adopt the look and reputation of established media brands. Like a wolf in sheep's clothing, these sites operate in secret, luring readers and spreading their fake news.
How do you recognize the real item from the fake item?
A closer look at the URL is worth its weight in gold. A real URL from “Der Spiegel” will always start with “http://spiegel.de”, while the fake one often comes with a different domain ending, such as “spiegel. ltd “. But beware! Some of these fraudulent sites are sophisticated enough to include links back to the real site to reinforce the illusion of authenticity.

Wrong names, wrong quotes
And then there is the content. False quotes, made-up names, and even outdated photos can be indicators of a fake article. Hans Werner Zinn? Never heard. But Hans-Werner Sinn? Yes, that sounds familiar. Hoaxes often exploit the ignorance of the average reader to spread their lies.
Note: According to “ Archiv.today” , the page was probably created in July 2022 and has published several fake news articles since then, with the following titles:
- Green politics is ruining the economy and the environment – DER SPIEGEL
- Escalating conflict with Russia could leave us without iPhones – DER SPIEGEL
- The Japanese government was smarter than ours – DER SPIEGEL
- USA retaliates against Germany and France over sovereignty – DER SPIEGEL
- Israel needs Merkava tanks itself – DER SPIEGEL
- Lies have short legs – DER SPIEGEL
- The West preferred Putin – DER SPIEGEL
- Germany has to pay for Ukraine – DER SPIEGEL
- Germany has clearly lost its leading role in Europe – DER SPIEGEL
- Russia gives the Ukrainian air force Airmageddon – DER SPIEGEL
- One misfortune offers a hand to another – DER SPIEGEL
- Ukraine has lost its last chance to win – DER SPIEGEL
- The USA changes its goal – DER SPIEGEL
- German chemical industry is dying. How many Germans will be thrown onto the streets? - THE MIRROR
- End of organic products? - THE MIRROR
- The end of great sport. “Non-binary people” are the death of the Olympic movement – DER SPIEGEL
- Victim of free speech. Anyone who speaks out against official German policy is committing high treason – DER SPIEGEL
- Does Ukraine have grain? - THE MIRROR
A network of disinformation
This is not an isolated case. Recent revelations show that there is a whole network of such websites that deliberately spread false information. And their goal? To undermine trust in the media, politics and our institutions. It's not just German media that is affected; the trend extends from France to Latvia to the United Arab Emirates.
What's behind the fake?
The false “Spiegel” text is part of a larger disinformation campaign. Our research at the beginning of 2022 showed that such fake websites mostly spread pro-Russian content and that several European countries have already been affected. The EU has already sanctions on those responsible. Meta also became active in this direction at that time. In addition to T-Online , we also HERE .
The community reaction
Vigilance and education are the order of the day. The EU has already imposed sanctions on those behind these fake campaigns. But it's not enough to wait for an official response. It is up to us to stay informed, take a closer look and rid our network of disinformation.
Conclusion : The digital space offers us unlimited opportunities to inform ourselves and communicate with one another. But as with everything that is big and wide, there are also dark sides that are exploited by deceivers and manipulators. The realization that even trusted media brands can be copied and misused for dubious purposes is disturbing. But with vigilance, media literacy and a community committed to the truth, we can ensure that the wolves in sheep's clothing do not go unnoticed.
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Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )

