An elaborate prank has taken the internet by storm, when a student stitched up his mate by alleging he was a notorious laundry fiend.
Tom Istefanous, a student at the University of Sussex, posted a "warning" to a Brighton Facebook selling page alleging an unknown man had posed as a buyer interested in his washing machine simply to wash his clothes.
For context, here is how the fictitious tale unfolded.
Istefanous placed his washer dryer up for sale, and so was presumably thrilled when a potential buyer asked to come to his house to see it.
But when the man came to his house in Brighton to test the machine, nothing could have prepared him for what happened next.
According to the tall tale, the potential buyer loaded up the machine with his dirty clothes and washed them.
Then the man took his clean washing back to his car under the pretense of fetching money.
But rather than return, the man simply drove off - presumably into the sunset.
A screen capture of Istefanous's post went viral on Friday, as the internet was left perplexed by the story.
And it's safe to say it fooled a great many.
But there were many unanswered questions, including:
- Where did the man get his detergent from - did he bring his own, use the owner's or, even worse, go without?
- What did the man do while his clothes were being washed?
- Why didn't the owner question why he needed to take his washed clothes to the car to get the cash?
Eagle-eyed debunkers were quick to spot the picture of the "laundry fiend" in one of Istefanous's Facebook pictures.
And so the prank was unveiled.
It's thought similar mischievous stories have been used in the US.