banksy
People have been duped yet again into thinking Bansky had been arrested Sincura

A story that has gone viral claiming secretive graffiti artist Banksy has been arrested and his identity exposed has yet again proved to be a hoax.

The fake article, which appeared on satirical website National Report, contains a number of untrue facts and completely fabricated quotes that normally would help identify it as a hoax story.

However, it appears many people wanted to believe the world-famous artist has been arrested and took no time in sharing it to social media. Former MP Louise Mensch was one of those duped by the story, taking to Twitter to express her outrage that Metropolitan Police had "arrested" Banksy.

A full breakdown of why the story is obviously a fake was revealed in an IBTimes UK report. However, one major clue in the National Report that revealed the whole thing was a hoax was the claim the actual identity of the graffiti artist is "Paul Horner".

Paul Horner might be the most overused name in internet hoax story history. A quick search on the National Report website reveals not only is Paul Horner Banksy, he is also the Facebook spokesperson who confirmed the site will begin charging users $2.99 a month, the five-times holder of the Biggest Penis in the World title, the retired NYPD police officer who claimed Michelle Obama's nude photos had been leaked as part of the Fappening, as well as a fundamentalist TV chef who planned to burn a copy of the Quran live on air.

The list goes on. Paul Horner is also a writer on the hit TV show Breaking Bad who confirmed the series will be back for another season, a small business owner who rejected President Barack Obama's plans to raise the drinking age in the US to 24 and a concerned US citizen who expressed his outrage at an annual "Assam Rape Festival" in India.

Multiple hoax stories, all from the National Report, feature the Everyman Paul Horner in one way or another .

This is not even the first time Paul Horner has been claimed to be the identity of Banksy. A similar hoax story about the artist's arrest did the rounds in February 2013, again claiming he has been identified as a Mr Paul William Horner.

So from now on, instead of being tricked once again by a completely made up stories, all readers need to do is check ask: A) Does it appear on the National Report? and B) Is Paul Horner mentioned anywhere in it?

If you answer "Yes" to these questions, congratulations you have not been fooled. Unlike the 650,000-plus people who have already shared the National Report's Banksy story.

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