New York Magazine admits it was duped by a 17 year old high school kid. The New York Observer went out and interviewed Mohammed Islam, who claimed to have made $72 million in the stock market to New York. Islam admitted he lied. About everything. Little by little we’re seeing big mistakes at major publications — like Rolling Stone, etc. Cutbacks mean the publications are no longer adhering to their prior standards. And these are the results. This is very scary because hoaxers are always out there.
Here is the New York statement:
In the most recent edition of New York, its annual Reasons to Love New York issue, the magazine published a story about a Stuyvesant High School senior named Mohammed Islam, who was rumored to have made $72 million trading stocks. Islam said his net worth was in the “high eight figures.” As part of the research process, the magazine sent a fact-checker to Stuyvesant, where Islam produced a document that appeared to be a Chase bank statement attesting to an eight-figure bank account.
After the story’s publication, people questioned the $72 million figure in the headline, which was written by editors based on the rumored figure. The headline was amended. But in an interview with the New York Observer last night, Islam now says his entire story was made up. A source close to the Islam family told the Washington Post that the statements were falsified. We were duped. Our fact-checking process was obviously inadequate; we take full responsibility and we should have known better. New York apologizes to our readers.
