Hoax Love Rat site dupes the Press

A Web site which claimed to expose two-timing love cheats has turned out to be hoax.

The sting was run by British Internet magazine .net to show just how easy it is to get publicity for Web sites.

With just a press release and no marketing budget, the hacks behind CheatingScum.com managed to get press coverage in The Mirror, Revolution, The Net and a piece on London's Capital Radio.

The site claimed to expose love rats and carried photographs of offenders and a short text explaining why these people deserved to be outed.

But in fact, it was set up by .net to see how gullible journalists can be when faced with what appears on the surface to be a cracking story.

Critics will argue that such a deliberate attempt to dupe the press - especially by fellow journalists - is simply not cricket. Others will say: "stuff it - who cares?".

Anyhow - make up your own mind by checking out CheatingScum.com here. ®