GREENSBORO, N.C. — It's easy to see how folks would just assume that a picture they see posted, is from right now…or is real. Use a 2WTK trick: a reverse Google image search is easy to do.
On the google screenà you click on images in the upper right hand corner-à
when the camera pops up-à click on it and then you can either upload an image or paste in a picture’s URL.
You’ll get a page that looks like this. I put in the Jack O’ Lantern sun image that has been circulating around Halloween. It brings up the image and other times it's been put online and any articles. You can see the dates, so you'll be able to see the history and know if it's a today image or not.
Google is just one way to do it, Bing, Yandex and TinEye are all services that will run photos through a database for you. It works similar for each, click on any of their sites and find the button to "upload" an image.
This trick comes in handy anytime you're buying something from a private person, like a dog. You can often spot online puppy sale scams with an image search.
“They think this is one of those simple transactions and they have a hard time believing that picture of the puppy is a fake from somewhere else," explains a BBB case worker.
But it happens all the time! It happened to a NC woman. When a reverse search of the picture of the puppy she was buying was done, that same puppy was for sale from South Dakota to Florida.
Experts recommend you pay by credit card in case you need to challenge the purchase later. They also say you should try to meet with the seller and see the animal in person beforehand
Reverse image search also comes in handy for social media.
When you see someone share those unbelievable pictures - do your own research before sharing.
