Every specimen here is a real, documented case — verified by fact-checkers, journalists, or the companies involved, not invented for the lesson. Sources are cited at the bottom of each plate so you can check the checking.
Each pattern is logged the way a naturalist logs a species: what it looks like in the wild, and the field mark that gives it away. The goal isn't to memorize twelve hoaxes — it's to recognize the mechanisms, so you catch the next one, which will look nothing like these.
This guide covers twelve specimens. The Incognati Atlas catalogs thousands more — biases, fallacies, distortions, and manipulation patterns, each one documented the same way: real case, real source, real tell. Caught something in the wild that isn't in here yet? That's the point of a field guide — it's never finished.