# False attribution

*Also called: Fabricated source*

- **Cluster:** Crowds and prestige — Numbers, custom and status standing in for reasons
- **Page:** https://fallacy.wiki/fallacy/false-attribution/
- **In Arabic:** https://fallacy.wiki/ar/fallacy/false-attribution.md
- **Licence:** CC BY 4.0 — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

## What it is

Supporting a claim with a source that is irrelevant, unqualified, unnamed, or invented.

## In the wild

> A famous scientist said it, though he never did.

## How to answer it

Ask for the original source and read it. Unverifiable attributions carry no weight.

## Origin and naming

The fallacy of leaning on a source that is unqualified, unidentifiable, or invented. It flourished with the shareable quotation image: famous names like Einstein acquire whole sentences they never wrote, because a borrowed name travels farther than an honest one.

## More places it shows up

- A revolution-era proverb gets attributed to a founding figure in a graduation speech; the oldest traceable version is a greeting card.
- A viral post claims a chunk of the population has a disorder, citing 'recent studies' whose authors turn out to be the product's own marketing agency.
- A manager closes a debate by saying Harvard proved that status meetings cut productivity, though she simply saw the figure in a slide deck years ago.
- A forwarded voice note warns of a new regulation, quoting an 'official statement' that no ministry's website has ever hosted.

## How to spot it

- The attribution is a fog: 'experts say', 'a study found', 'as the proverb goes' — phrases built to resist a search bar.
- The quote is suspiciously memorable; real experts hedge, and fabricated ones are always quotable.
- Ask where it was said or published, and the person goes quiet or answers with where they saw it — a share, never a source.

## Nearby

- [Appeal to authority](https://fallacy.wiki/fallacy/authority.md)
- [Quoting out of context](https://fallacy.wiki/fallacy/quoting-out-of-context.md)

## Read more

- [Logically Fallacious](https://www.logicallyfallacious.com/logicalfallacies/False-Attribution)
- [Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy](https://iep.utm.edu/fallacy/)

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From fallacy.wiki — a bilingual field guide to 91 logical fallacies, published by phi holdings. Licensed CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/): reuse freely with attribution to fallacy.wiki.