There's a press release making the rounds on the internet this afternoon saying that London police have arrested famed graffiti artist Banksy and revealed his identity.
Don't believe it — the whole thing seems to be a hoax.
We just placed a call to London's Metropolitan Police, who confirmed that the Banksy is still safely under cover.
And there are no reports about the alleged arrest on BBC or CNN, which both supposedly covered the story according to the press release on PRLog.
Tellingly, the contact address for the release is an email address at the domain name www.iywib.com, a humor site (it's currently down).
We have to give the writer some credit, though — the details in the press release are pretty specific. It claims that Banksy is Paul William Horner, a 39-year old male born in Bristol, England.
And it says that he's "currently being held without bail on charges of vandalism, conspiracy, racketeering and counterfeiting."
While the press release seems confined to Twitter for the moment, a few publications seem to have fallen for the hoax.
Complex wrote earlier this afternoon:
While the rumor swirls around often, this time it may be true. Banksy was supposedly arrested yesterday in London under charges of vandalism and counterfeiting. He has been revealed as Paul Horner, a 39-year-old male born in Bristol, England.
He is said to be currently held without bail. We will report more details as they are revealed.
Jezebel also seem to have taken the bait, though they swiftly added a caveat acknowledging it may be a hoax.
Some screenshots of the release:
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