First it was flesh-eating bananas wreaking havoc in the US. Then, a mummified fairy corpse was advertised for sale on eBay - along with the photos to "prove it".
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In the fake news era, seeing really is believing.
Researchers at the Australian National University say people are more likely to believe a claim, no matter how outrageous, if it is paired with a photograph. In fact, during more than 20 experiments conducted over the past six years, about 60 to 70 per cent of people showed consistent bias towards believing a statement when a photo was also present.
Eryn Newman from the ANU School of Psychology said people used photographs to help imagine and understand a claim - and most weren't even aware they were doing it.
"Only a small portion of our participants would admit to being influenced by the photos, but when we looked at the data, we could see the effect of bias," Dr Newman said.
"It doesn't really matter what the claim is about. Even a photo providing no evidence, if you pair that with something about a politician or a celebrity, people are more likely to believe it."
In a now-infamous example of fake news from the recent US presidential election, photos of a "secret" early delivery of ballot papers ticked off for candidate Hillary Clinton were held up as proof the Democrats were rigging the result - though a quick Google search revealed the photos were from a completely different time and place.
"It really shows some of the cognitive pitfalls we can fall into when we're making judgements," Dr Newman said.
"We might like to think we can sort the facts from the fiction but people tend to decide what is real or not based on their emotions, and what comes to mind quickly."
In one experiment, Dr Newman recalled holding wine tastings in the lab and asking people to decide which blend tasted the best after viewing the wine's names. Some labels were paired with photos, others weren't.
"Everyone thought the [wines] with a photo were the best - but it was all the same wine!" she said.
An alarming number of participants were also tricked into thinking all turtles were deaf and musician Nick Cave was dead if their photos appeared beside the claim.
In a world where Twitter bots and fake news sites regularly waged war on the truth, Dr Newman said it was more difficult than ever to discern fact from fiction.
"This is bigger than just fake news. We're all susceptible. Simply warning people something is false isn't enough anymore."
In fact, attempts to "debunk" claims often backfired, she said.
In the case of an early internet hoax which claimed a rare necrotising bacteria was "zombifying" bananas, reports by local media unmasking the myth actually caused it to spread further. The US government eventually had to set up a hotline for concerned banana consumers.
"Once [fake news] is already stuck, campaigns taking the fact versus fiction approach don't work because people still remember the myth. We give it too much airtime," Dr Newman said.
"We should be popularising the truth instead and making facts more accessible."
ANU is holding a forum from 9am to 5pm on December 6 examining everything from climate change to mathematics in a "post-truth" era. Attendance is free but registration is necessary. Click here for more information.
