The Scary New Trick Going Round Facebook that You Really Need to Avoid

​Just a heads up, if you've spotted some preeeety unrealistic-seeming news stories on your Facebook timeline recently, don't be falling for it. 

 Because a new website called CloneZone is replicating familiar-looking websites (like our very own) and allowing users to write whatever they want all over them. Oh, goody. 

And, although there's a way to tell what's real and what's fake, it's not that easy to spot. But if you DO happen to come across an article that looks too far-fetched even for today's crazy world, just take a look at the share URL. If it contains 'clone.zone.link', it's a fake. 

Unsurprisingly, this new tool which was created (for whatever unknown reason other than to be annoying) by New York-based creative studio 4REAL, is really starting to piss people off. Because one story, regarding a US Senator, has even gone viral, fooling people into believing something about her that is categorically untrue. 

So I decided to have a play around with the tool myself, just to see if it's all it's hyped up to be. And yeah, it looks pretty legit. Here's an article I wrote earlier today, about Orlando Bloom and Katy Perry's new romance: 

And here's my ​​not strictly true​, Clone Zone edited version. Looks authentic, doesn't it? Well, apart from the content being ludicrous: 

So there's a lesson to be learnt here, kids. Don't believe everything you read on the internet (unless you've double checked the URL and it doesn't contain any trace of the words 'clone' or 'zone'). ​

Follow Cat on Twitter.