The ME:A 'Story DLC Cancelled' Sinclair Networks Facebook hoax

That's the thing. They established themselves by posting something harmless first. Such as the first patch being released. So everyone would have heard the name but not in a controversial context. Nobody had any reason to question them being legit at that point. They established IMDB pages that crop up if you google for credentials. It was quite a lot of effort, but at the same time not really elaborate. Since they obviously came from Australia or NZ, they chose to place their company on the other side of the world, believing that most people here are Americans and noone would even bother to check in the first place. I wouldn't have done it either, if they had chosen an adress in some town in Nebraska.

What made me suspicious when looking at their FB page was the absence of the Bioware logo in the their made up portfolio. From there I noticed that the logos weren't clickable, which is highly unusual, since every company likes to brag about what they done for these people. What also gave me pause was the 0800 number for a company. So I looked at the phone book, and when that didn't turn up any results I made my two calls.

I have to say, if I had seen that Kellar character first, I would have instantly run a check. Too much bragging for some serious businessman, but no new posts after april. No friends, no links, no nothing. That one screamed fake account.

I'd only like to add that someone pointed out later that person might have been from Indonesia.
One of few liked FB profiles fake Sinclair's personal profile was some Indonesian group page, which rather stood up.
Since Indonesia is in that part of the world with Australia and New Zealand, as well plenty of Indonesians write English well. maybe that person from there.

Although it is possible guy just likes Indonesia and knows Indonesian language to some extent.

The thing is though...aside from the fact that this did take a bit of effort...are we going to see something like this happen again?  There is a VERY real possibility that this particular act of trolling will inspire others to do the same, perhaps on a more elaborate scale in order to provoke a reaction.  This, at the least, got a few people from Bioware talking (EA seems particularly silent, surprise, surprise...).  Hopefully, this doesn't give rise to imitators of a seedier, and disingenuous variety.

Unsurprising, but Facebook can tell what city you're connecting from. And can't VPNs be traced, given enough time?

As if this was anything new. It has been around before the internet and it won't go away with social media being omnipresent and believed by most of it's users. Before the arrival of the internet it was only harder to disprove than it is now.

The first event of this kind I know of, in my own little bubble of the world, was a hoax in the year 1950. A renowned comedian running a press campaign on an eskimo poet visiting Vienna. They all came to greet him at the rail station. And out came the comedian, having a good laugh at their expense.

Today is looking to be much more peaceful! Didn't wake up to insane amounts of notifications and shocking revelations lol

Let's just hope it stays that way I don't think the forum would be able to stand another day of chaos like that. But at least it got to show off how robust it is.