Beware of Fake RFID Reports Shared on Social Media

Over the past year, a series of stories have been circulated regarding the implantation of RFID chips. Many of these stories,  however, originated from the same website, which produces only fiction.

Below we have compiled some of the more popular RFID-related articles published by the website National Report. That website produces fictional, satirical stories, which are often shared and discussed by readers unaware of the nature of the source. These are not news stories, but fictional works with no corroboration by legitimate news sources.

July 2013: RFID Chips Being Implemented in Hanna, Wyoming

This story first gained momentum in July 2013. The Hanna, Wyoming RFID story referenced a controversial – and untrue – claim which spread in 2012 that Obamacare would require RFID chips to be implanted in citizens by March 2013. There was no legislation that required the implantation of RFID chips in humans. Those who spread the original rumor took a few sentences of legislation which never passed (HR 3200) out of context.

The National Report article even included the same RFID graphic which circulated alongside the original rumor in 2012. That graphic, however, actually showed a blood glucose monitor and a pet microchip – not an RFID chip used in humans.

October 2013: Wyoming Schools Implanting RFID Chips Without Parental Consent

In what appeared to be a follow-up to the July RFID article, this fictional report stated that several Wyoming school districts were implanting children without parental consent. Many readers shared the story on social media websites, unaware that it was a work of fiction. Despite the satirical nature of the story, portions of the story included a serious tone:

Wyoming recently saw several hundred elementary and middle school children being implanted with the new MINI RFID. During their annual physical checkup and vaccination last month, each child additionally received the implant between their pointing finger and thumb.

November 2013: Wyoming Christians Forced Obamacare RFID Chipping

Following on the heels of two other popular RFID stories, National Report this time riled readers by stating that Christians in Wyoming were being forced implantation of RFID chips. The article entitled Wyoming Christians Report Forced Obamacare RFID Chipping was published in November 2013 and received heavy sharing due to its alarming subject.

May 2014: Is Pope Francis Supporting RFID Chip Implantation?

Continuing in its stream of fake, controversial RFID topics, the official-sounding article from May 2014 article began:

In a controversial move by the Catholic church, Pope Francis has come out in vocal support of RFID Chip technologies and the extraordinary potential they hold for mankind.

That story included links to various RFID-related articles in order to lend credibility to the false report, including an NBC story about the future of personal identification.

June 2014: Were One-Third of Americans Implanted With RFID Chips?

National Report cited the official-sounding – but clearly fake – scientific website, witscience.org for this story. The report cited by National Report stateed that most RFID chips are secretly implanted during dental procedures.

The website which posted this “study” was registered in May 2014 and only appears to publish fictional research for the sole purpose of being cited by National Report. Despite its official-looking and sounding tone, there are clues that the “Wyoming Institute of Technology” website is fake, including its “About” paragraph which notes, “In December of 1999, WIT literally saved the world, after our computer science researchers managed to stop the Y2K virus from spreading globally.”

The Photo

A photo included with this fake story is a cropped image which was posted back in 2012, and shows the Monza X chip by Impinj.

July 2014: RFID Chips Implanted by School to Curb Gun Violence?

In an article entitled, “RFID Chip Implemented In All Public Schools By 2015 – Effort To Curb Gun Violence,” we read that recent school shootings have led to the mandatory implantation of microchips by 2015 before students can attend class.

Another website, chippietherfid.com, was listed as a source within the article. That website’s Twitter icon links to a writer for National Report, so it would appear that this website is also part of the joke.

As with many outlandish satire pieces published online, this particular story was re-published by bloggers and social media users who were unaware that the story was not real. A re-posting by The New Republic of Texas had around 300 comments in the hours after it was published. That site did not point out that National Report is satire, and much of the discussion also appeared to be unaware of this fact.

National Report

National Report has a disclaimer which clearly states that the website produces satirical content. The disclaimer – which has been removed on at least one occasion – reads:

*DISCLAIMER: National Report is a news and political satire web publication, which may or may not use real names, often in semi-real or mostly fictitious ways. All news articles contained within National Report are fiction, and presumably fake news. Any resemblance to the truth is purely coincidental . The views expressed by writers on this site are theirs alone and are not reflective of the fine journalistic and editorial integrity of National Report. Advice given is NOT to be construed as professional. If you are in need of professional help (and you may be if you are on this page), please consult a professional. National Report is intended for a mature audience and not for children under the age of 18.

Bottom Line

National Report has published a series of fake, alarming articles related to RFID chips and their implantation. It would appear that the more outlandish the article, the more likely it is to receive likes and shares.

None of the articles regarding RFID implantation published by National Report are real.