Several articles from this fake news website abcnews.com.co went viral, including one that said Barack Obama banned the Pledge of Allegiance posted on June 2016.

The website looks almost identical to the official ABC News website.

With the recent shooting in Las Vegas, fake news articles have been published regarding the shooter being communist and being linked to ISIS, however this has not been verified.

People put a lot of trust into news outlets, but several fake news sites have led to misinformation on a large scale. Here are some tips on how to spot fake news. 

1. Google it

Just like anything else you’re not sure of, simply googling the website can be helpful. When you search articles like abcnews.com.co and worldnewsreport.com on Google, some of the first sites to come up are articles informing people that they’re fake. 

“Start by looking up websites,” said journalism professor Debra Gibson. “Google those websites, and see if there is a preponderance amount of people saying this is BS.”

2. Read responses

With social media, check the comments section. If the article is fake there could very likely be comments debunking them. Often times websites will also have areas for feedback to articles, which can be resources to identifying if the news source is accurate. 

“Read the comments of social media posts and articles,” Gibson said. “See if people are saying, ‘yeah this is true I saw this and this’ or ‘no this is totally wrong and here’s proof that what you’re saying is wrong.”

3. Follower count

“I don’t think this is a total qualifier, but check and see how many people are following this account or website,” Gibson said. “If you compare it to like ABC or CNN or Fox News and this doesn’t come anywhere near that, then definitely be a little suspect, but again, I don’t think the numbers are all of it because a large number of people fall for fake news.”

Major news sources like MSNBC, the New Yorker, CNN and Fox all have millions of followers on Twitter, so if the account you’re looking at has something significantly smaller than that, this could be a red flag. 

4. Widen your scope

Don’t limit your news intake to just one media outlet. Make it a point to follow multiple news sources of different perspectives to make sure you’re getting the whole story, and not just one point of view. If none of the major media groups are reporting something that you find, this could mean that it is fake news.

“Don’t curate your social media to the same news all the time, because you don’t have anything to compare it to,” Gibson said. “For example, if you follow CNN, you should probably follow Fox News too. And I’m not saying you have to agree with it, but just get a wider scope and balance and then do comparisons. You find out ‘well I’ve found four sites I know are legitimate and they are saying this, but this site is saying something completely different.”

5. Check sources

Look at their sources. If you see a name you don’t recognize, look into it. Paul Horner, a notorious creator of fake news often used names of his friends as fake sources, and people believed that they were reputable sources without checking. 

“Definitely check into sources. Ask ‘what sources are being used?’ ‘Is this reporter being transparent about where they got their information?’ Things like that,” Gibson said. “You can trust someone who has several sources and is very transparent and says ‘this is who that person is, this is who they work for, this is how they’re connected to the story’ and uses direct quotes from them as opposed to a lot of narrative.”

Suspicious wording of sources can also be an indicator of fake news. If the introduction of sources is often vague or ambiguous, this is a red flag.

“If you see a lot of ‘a person close to the situation said,’ and ‘a source who wished to remain anonymous said,’ then I would really think “how legitimate is this?” Gibson said.

6. Evidence

“Anytime you feel like someone’s not being straight with you, you file a records request.” @erinfjordan #IREwatchdog #DSM

— Lisa Oakes (@munger_oakes) September 30, 2017

Documentation from the government or other official records are good signs that this is a reputable news site. This is also true in reverse. If you’re reading something that has no evidence or proof to what they are saying, absolutely question the trustworthiness of the article. 

“Using government records, official documents are signs that ‘yes this is legitimate,” Gibson said.

7. Let the dust settle

“Sometimes with news – especially breaking news, I would not just swallow anything that any news outlet puts out there, regardless of how legitimate they are,” Gibson said. “Because we now have this ‘pressure cooker system’ in journalism where everyone is trying to be the first to break the news, and so there doesn’t seem to be as equal a commitment to accuracy.”

When news is just breaking, the rush to get information out can lead to inaccuracies. News is constantly being updated and edited, so wait for the ‘dust to settle’ before fully trusting what you’ve read. 

CBS News compiled a list of known fake news websites you can find here.