Viral image
Viral image
stated on May 12, 2021 in a Facebook post:

Exxon sign says drivers “must show proof of a job for gas purchase.”

False

No, this isn’t a real Exxon gas station sign

If your time is short

  • This image was fabricated online. 
 
See the sources for this fact-check

Gasoline shortages are affecting some gas stations around the country and social media users are sharing what looks like an Exxon sign limiting who can pull up to a pump. 

“Must show proof of a job for gas purchase,” the sign says. But it’s not real, and posts sharing it were flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)

If you do a reverse image search for the sign you’ll find nearly identical images with one big difference — the text on the sign changes picture to picture, but the background doesn’t. The same cars are idling in the parking lot. 

That’s because anyone can punch in the text they want to appear on the sign at a website that lets you “make your own gas station sign.”

We created one. It says: “Don’t believe everything you see on the internet.”

We rate claims that this is a real sign False.

 
Our Sources

Facebook post, May 12, 2021

PolitiFact gas station sign, created May 13, 2021

Make your own gas station sign, visited May 13, 2021