Why do people believe con artists?

  What is real can seem pretty arbitrary. It’s easy to be fooled by misinformation disguised as news and deepfake videos showing people doing things they never did or said. Inaccurate information – even deliberately wrong information – doesn’t just come from snake-oil salesmen, door-to-door hucksters, and TV shopping channels anymore.

  Even the president of the United States needs constant fact-checking. As of February, he had made an average of 15 false or misleading public claims every day of his presidency, according to a tally from the Washington Post.