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If you are following real-time images of Post-Tropical Cyclone Sandy on sites such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Tumblr, don't believe everything you see.
From images of completely different storms to the downright unbelievable Hollywood photoshop treatment, hundreds of fake photos purporting to be Sandy are circulating the internet.
There is even a website called Instacane, which is collating all storm-related photos that are tagged with terms such as "Sandy" and "hurricane". While many of these are indeed legitimate, others should be taken with a grain of salt.
On photo-sharing app Instagram, 10 photos are being uploaded of the storm every second, according to The New York Times.
How to spot a fake image
Just as there are more ways than ever before for online pranksters to fool us into believing these images are real, there are also more tools than ever before to catch them out.
1. Google image search
Go to Google.com/images
Type in the URL of the image, or simply drag and drop it there
Google will show you other instances of that image that have been published on the web
2. TinEye reverse image search
Go to tineye.com
Upload the image or type in the URL of the image
Similar to Google, TinEye will reveal where that image has appeared previously on the web
3. Ask
Before you retweet, like or share the image, ask the person if they took the photo themselves
If they didn't, ask where they got it, and check out the source for yourself
Fairfax Media with agencies
