The most effective protection against hoaxes will always be a healthy dose of common sense: every time you receive an e-mail message or read a post, ask yourself whether it is believable and plausible. If you are even a little bit suspicious, never click "Forward", "Share" or the "Like" button. If something comes across as unbelievable, you can quickly check it by using a search engine like Google or similar. It is almost one hundred per cent certainly a hoax if it is mentioned only in very few blogs or forums, but not at all in any reliable news portals.

You can also contact the 'Hoax-Info Service' of the University of Applied Sciences (TU Berlin) in Berlin if an e-mail or post seems suspicious to you: they can help you verify it. This website has a list of hoaxes that have been common in recent years. If you don't find the hoax you received in their list, you can report it to TU Berlin. Protect yourself by staying informed and informing others. If you know the sender of the hoax e-mail personally, don't hesitate to inform the person that they've fallen for a prank or believe a false report.