Fake news site gains more than 1M views in less than two weeks

A 28-year-old Costa Rica resident started a fake news website in February as a joke and ended up with more than 1 million page views a week and a half later, PolitiFact reported.

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James McDaniel started the website UndergroundNewsReport.com on Feb. 21 and told PolitiFact his goal was to find out how easily people were convinced by the wild stories he created.

McDaniel said he made $615 from advertisements on the website, which he plans to donate to the 2020 Democratic presidential nominee. PolitiFact first found the website via its effort with Facebook to combat fake news on the social media site.

Some of McDaniel’s headlines include, “Bombshell: WikiLeaks leaks ‘lost’ Clinton email,” “Man pardoned by Obama 3 months ago arrested for murder” and “Whoopi Goldberg: Navy SEAL Widow was ‘Looking for Attention.’”

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