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Manipulation atlas
Pressure, spoofed senders, cropped charts… For every trick you’ll find a short explanation, a made-up example, the signs that give it away and how to check. You can print each trick as a card.
55 tricks · 7 chapters
Pressure and emotion
Instead of reasons, it pushes emotions: fear, haste, anger or the feeling you might miss out.
- False urgencyPressure to act right now (“within 24 hours”, “today only”) so there is no time to check.4 exercises
- ThreatsScaring people with fines, court, a blocked account or stopped deliveries so they act out of fear.3 exercises
- Secrecy (“don't tell anyone”)Being asked not to talk to anyone about it – the manipulator doesn't want anyone to warn you.2 exercises
- Blocking verification“Don't call”, “stay on the line”, “our phones are down” – the aim is to stop you checking another way.3 exercises
- Emotional pressureFear, pity, anger or excitement are used to drown out careful thinking.
- SensationalismCAPITALS, exclamation marks and words like “SHOCKING” are meant to stir emotion, not to inform.1 exercise
- Loaded languageEmotionally charged words (“crime wave”, “they're banning”) slip in a judgement instead of facts.1 exercise
- False scarcity“Only 7 left” – pressure to buy before you compare the offer.2 exercises
- Share bait“Share before they delete it!” – the message is meant to spread faster than anyone can check it.2 exercises
- Us versus themSets groups of people against each other and feeds a sense of grievance instead of a factual debate.1 exercise
Scams and data theft
Signs of fraudulent messages, calls and websites that want your money, passwords or codes.
- Spoofed senderA message, call or profile poses as a bank, authority, company or someone close to you. Names, numbers and logos can all be faked.6 exercises
- Generic greeting“Dear customer” instead of your name: a bank or company you deal with usually knows your name – a mass message comes from someone who doesn't know you.1 exercise
- Lookalike linkA link or domain only resembles the real one (a hyphen, a different ending, an extra word). What counts is the part just before the first slash.4 exercises
- Unusual paymentPaying into a new account, with gift cards or crypto, or a “small extra fee” – outside the way you normally pay.4 exercises
- Upfront feeYou must pay first to get the promised income, prize or loan – and then more payments follow.1 exercise
- Request for sensitive dataPINs, passwords, verification codes, card or ID numbers – a legitimate organisation won't ask for them like this.4 exercises
- Remote accessBeing asked to install an app such as AnyDesk – a stranger could then control your computer or phone, banking included.1 exercise
- Too good to be trueUnrealistic earnings, returns, prizes or discounts – bait meant to switch off your caution.2 exercises
- Miracle promiseA quick, guaranteed cure or effortless result – something no serious source promises.1 exercise
- Celebrity baitA well-known person supposedly endorses a product or investment – usually without knowing it.1 exercise
Sources and evidence
Who says so, and based on what? Tricks that hide a weak, out-of-context or made-up source.
- False authorityCiting “doctors”, “a professor” or an authority without a name or a checkable source – or misusing a real name.2 exercises
- Vague source“A friend who was there”, “someone at the town hall” – a source that can't be traced or checked.2 exercises
- False proof (“a study proves”)A reference to a study or experts that exaggerates or twists what the research actually found.
- Fabricated sourceA quote, study, statute or ruling that looks credible but doesn't exist. Typical of AI hallucinations.1 exercise
- False precisionAn exact figure (“37% more”) with no checkable source – it sounds credible but proves nothing.1 exercise
- “They're hiding it”Claiming that authorities, the media or doctors are hiding something – it discredits any fact-check in advance.3 exercises
- Out of contextA real photo, video or story from another place or time, given a new meaning by the text.3 exercises
- Satire taken as newsA joke from a satirical site spreads without context as if it were real news.1 exercise
Flawed arguments
Reasoning that sounds logical, but the conclusion doesn’t follow.
- Ad hominemAttacking the person making the argument instead of the argument itself.2 exercises
- Straw manExaggerating or distorting the other side's view so it is easier to knock down.1 exercise
- False dilemmaPretending there are only two options when there are more.2 exercises
- Slippery slopeClaiming without evidence that one step will set off a chain of events ending in disaster.1 exercise
- BandwagonPopularity or the number of happy customers is passed off as proof that something works or is right.2 exercises
- False consensus“I think we all agree…” – agreement is assumed before anyone has said what they think.2 exercises
- GaslightingDenying what demonstrably happened or was said until the other person doubts their own memory.1 exercise
- LabellingA label (“oversensitive”, “always negative”) instead of a factual point – the problem is shifted onto the person.1 exercise
- Overreaching conclusionThe conclusion goes much further than the data or evidence allow.1 exercise
- Correlation ≠ causationTwo things going together doesn't mean one causes the other. Often a third factor is behind both.1 exercise
Numbers and charts
True numbers and charts presented so they leave a false impression.
- Cherry-pickingShowing only the period or slice of data that fits and keeping quiet about the rest.2 exercises
- Misleading chartA truncated axis, uneven scale or selective window magnifies a difference that barely exists in the data.1 exercise
- Relative without absolute“A third lower” sounds dramatic even when the difference is one case in a thousand.1 exercise
- Percentages without a base“Up 100%” with no starting number – going from 3 to 6 cases is also 100%.1 exercise
- Misleading averageAn average skewed by a few extreme values. The median shows what is typical.2 exercises
- Biased sampleOnly those who wanted to answered, or too few did – the result can't be generalised.1 exercise
Group decisions
How a meeting, a team or your own mind slides into a bad decision.
- AnchoringThe first number mentioned sways every later estimate, even if nothing backs it up.2 exercises
- GroupthinkThe wish for agreement and a good mood in the group drowns out critical review and inconvenient facts.1 exercise
- Silencing dissentAnyone with doubts is mocked or labelled a troublemaker – next time nobody speaks up.1 exercise
- Planning fallacyAn optimistic “this time will be different” ignores how similar projects turned out.1 exercise
- Base-rate neglectA vivid story outweighs the statistics on how similar cases usually turn out.1 exercise
- Averaging away disagreementDiffering estimates are averaged or set aside instead of asking why they differ – and what only one person knew gets lost.1 exercise
Images, video and accounts
Edited and generated photos, fake voices, videos out of context and accounts that aren’t real.
- DeepfakeImages or a voice created or altered by AI to pass as a real person.
- AI artefactsGarbled text, wrong anatomy, nonsensical details. Their absence, however, doesn't prove an image is real.1 exercise
- Visual inconsistencyShadows, light, weather or season don't match the claimed place and time.1 exercise
- Fake profileAn account with a borrowed photo, a short history or unnatural activity, pretending to be a real person.1 exercise
- Coordinated behaviourMany accounts post the same thing at the same time – an organised campaign posing as spontaneous opinion.1 exercise