Sun Duped By Google Street View Divorce Story
THE Sun’s Veronica Lorraine reports that a woman has used Google Street View to trap her cheating husband. It’s a great splash and all over the interwebs.
Extra-marital sex and Google in one story makes for a Sun story.
Only, it’s not true.
Anorak has come upon this email sent to the Sun by a reader:
Hey Sun,
I need your help. One of my mates caught her husband cheating by using Google Street View. He’s a pig. Also, this really shows how the addition of the Street View is hurting people. I think this is a good story for you.
Cheers,
Sasha
Matt Platino explains:
I picked the name Sasha Harris because Sasha sounds somewhat British and Sasha Harris is the prostitute that was involved with Sham-Wow Vince. Also, note how I used words like “mates” and “cheers”. This lulls the Brits into a false sense of security. Unfortunately, I couldn’t logically work the phrases ” ‘Ello Gov-na!” or “mind the gap” into the email.
Next time:
Then, to back up the story, I emailed the Sun from the email address Mr.Mark.Stephens77@gmail.com to add a source. I sent them a picture of the said offending street view. The email was boring so I’m not going to post it, but The Sun quickly responded. They thanked me for the information and asked me if I was Mark Stephens, the media lawyer. I shrugged (even though they couldn’t see me shrug) and basically responded “yeah, sure”.
Apparently I hit a streak of good luck. I got the name Mark Stephens from one of those internet random name generators and went with it. I guess Mark Stephens is a known media lawyer in Britain.
I also got lucky because The Sun is a bunch of fools. The picture I sent wasn’t even a street view. I don’t even know if the picture was of an apartment building. It could be a commercial building for all I know. I just zoomed into London (because that’s the biggest city I know) and picked Victoria Street (because Victoria Beckham is attractive). Then I looked for some parked cars. I guess The Sun didn’t include the Street View picture in their story because they knew it wasn’t a Street View Picture at all and they just wanted to write a fun juicy story.
Bingo!
Posted: 31st, March 2009 | In: Key Posts, Media Comments (12) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink
Comments
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October 8th, 2009 at 3:05 pm
“Also, note how I used words like “mates” and “cheers”. This lulls the Brits into a false sense of security. Unfortunately, I couldn’t logically work the phrases ” ‘Ello Gov-na!” or “mind the gap” into the email.”
Lulling “the brits” into a false sense of security by using the words mate and cheers? using such cheap and frankly retarded generalisations would lead me to assume only one thing, you’re a yank. i know you might get off on quoting the obvious, so i’m gonna have a go you burger-munching, sister screwing, self righteous dumbass. there, all of america rolled into one paragraph.
i am not defending the sun with this post, i am just showing how tired and jaded all of the stereotypes placed on britain are. i expect to get a reply BEFORE christmas, but i might not seeing as i used such long words. oh, and by the way, im only 16, so try not to use too many swearwords. i know how you love those.
April 11th, 2009 at 12:33 pm
‘The Sun duped’….
Just like their readers.
Move along, nothing to see here.
April 1st, 2009 at 8:41 pm
The guy behind “Idiot Forever” is a liar. The story about the cheater uncovered by Google Street View was already published in The Times on 2009-03-26 and written by the REAL Mark Stephens: http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/law/article5976443.ece
March 31st, 2009 at 8:56 pm
April Fools
March 31st, 2009 at 6:01 pm
[...] auf den Weg um die Welt, letztere naturgemäß noch mit geringerer Aufmerksamkeit: „Anorak News”, [...]
March 31st, 2009 at 5:50 pm
Ask him to publish my comments while you’re at it
March 31st, 2009 at 4:36 pm
4 - I have written to Matt at IdiotForever - so he is aware of my interest. I asked him to show me the emails he sent which should answer comment 5.
March 31st, 2009 at 4:33 pm
Just wondering, but why doesn’t the article link back to the original blog where you copied/pasted Matt’s prank?
http://idiotforever.wordpress.com/2009/03/31/how-i-duped-the-sun/ in case anyone is interested
March 31st, 2009 at 4:21 pm
And here’s what Mark Stephens (the real one I presume) wrote in a column for the Times on the 26th March:
“Talking about away games, my divorce department has just received its first instructions based on a wife who spotted her husband’s Range Rover at a lady friend’s house, when he said that he was away on a business trip. The putative ex-husband has a singular interest in pimped-up hub caps that were apparently the identifying feature. I suspect the husband’s lawyers will consider bringing in Google as a third party to indemnify against its invasion of privacy that has cost a marriage and will cost him his Range Rover.”
Stephens may have made it up - no timestamp on Street View - but seems odd that Idiot Forever happened to pick the same name and provide an incredibly similar quote:
“I was talking about the Range Rover case when another divorce lawyer came up to say his firm was dealing with the same sort of thing. People are getting caught out on Google. I suspect the husband’s lawyers will claim it was an invasion of privacy that will cost him his marriage and Range Rover.”
Unless of course, Mr Idiot Forever claims to have posed as Stephens to the Times and penned a 1000-word column to be on the safe side.
March 31st, 2009 at 4:15 pm
[...] Zgodba se je pojavila še: Fox News - Straying Husband Caught by Google ‘Cheat’ View Telegraph.co.uk - Cheating husband spotted at mistress’ home on Google Street View CNET News - Cheating husband caught on Google Street View? Anorak - Sun Duped By Google Street View Divorce Story [...]
March 31st, 2009 at 4:14 pm
The story is so thin that it smells iffy…
So when I saw this it made more sense that then the shabby tale…
March 31st, 2009 at 4:06 pm
Victoria Beckham is attractive?
Are you sure you’re not being wound up Anorka?