Joel Osteen target of elaborate Internet hoax

[TexasTowelie]

It's a news flash with an asterisk: Lakewood Church Pastor Joel Osteen has resigned from the mega church that he has led since 1999, a move prompted by his decision to leave the Christian faith due to his "lack of faith."

The asterisk is needed, mind you, because the story is false, as in Internet hoax.

Whoever devised the elaborate hoax didn't just stop at a fake church website - http://www.joelostenministries.com/ - which is almost identical to the genuine Joel Osteen Ministries website - http://www.joelosteen.com/.

The hoaxer also has put up bogus news sites trumpeting the fictitious news, replicating news outlets that include CNN, Yahoo.com and the Christian News Network. They've also posted a fake YouTube video -

& - and bogus Twitter page - https://twitter.com/PastorJoelOsten. Osteen's real Twitter account can be found at @JoelOsteen.

More at http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Joel-Osteen-target-of-elaborate-Internet-hoax-4418266.php .

[customerserviceguy]

1. There's nothing more entertaining

than a scamster being scammed!