A roundup of some of the most popular but completely untrue stories and visuals of the week.

CLAIM

A new tax policy allows the IRS to “monitor all transactions involving bank accounts worth more than $600.” Another new policy taxes all payments of more than $600 made through applications like PayPal and Venmo.

THE FACTS

Current tax proposals and policies do not call for either of these actions. As part of its efforts to crack down on tax evasion by the wealthy, the Biden administration has proposed that financial institutions — which are already required to report to taxpayers and the IRS when bank accounts earn interest that exceeds $10 — would also document the total amount deposited and withdrawn from personal and business accounts annually. The requirement would not extend to bank accounts that have less than $600 in transactions per year or contain a balance of less than $600.

The Biden administration argues this data may give the IRS a better sense of who might be receiving large incomes that they aren’t reporting. But claims the proposal would allow “direct access to your bank transactions” are incorrect. Banks would not be able to report individual transactions to the IRS.

CLAIM

A 2018 study that looked at the effectiveness of N95 masks versus medical masks found that masks don’t stop the spread of viruses.

THE FACTS

The study found that N95 masks and medical masks are equally effective at protecting against viral respiratory infections and illnesses — not that masks do not work. The trial tracked groups of health care workers who were randomly assigned to wear either N95 or medical masks, also known as surgical masks, when around patients with respiratory or influenza-like illness. It looked at the health outcomes of these health workers at 137 outpatient sites over four flu seasons.

Derek Cummings, a professor of biology and infectious disease epidemiologist at the University of Florida, said the study built on previous research that showed masks are effective at preventing the spread of viruses. “The study was not designed to assess whether N95 masks work or not,” he said. “What we were trying to do was to say that we know N95s work. We don’t know how much better they are than medical masks.”

CLAIM

Video shows people dropping “dead” outside a COVID-19 vaccination clinic in London after receiving a shot.

THE FACTS

The video, which circulated on Twitter, does not show anyone dying, or even collapsing, after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine. Rather, it shows a protest outside the North Kensington Fire Station in London, where a bus was providing COVID-19 vaccinations. The nature of the protest isn’t entirely clear from the video, but it appears to be related to COVID-19.

CLAIM

Car seats are being left in public places as a sex trafficking ploy to kidnap women.

THE FACTS

There is no evidence that this is a ploy being used by traffickers, officials say. A viral TikTok video viewed more than 13 million times references a Wilkesboro, N.C., police department announcement but ignores what it actually said: that, contrary to rumors, a car seat left in a Walmart parking lot was not found to be associated with trafficking.

In the video, a woman shows the police department’s Facebook post with a photo of a pink and black car seat in a parking lot. She asks viewers if they’ve ever seen “this type of car seat just out of nowhere.” She goes on to say: “That’s actually a trap. Please do not go near that car seat. That’s actually a sex trafficking car seat where they’re just waiting for you to walk up, you as a woman to walk up, where they can grab you.” She encourages women who “see a random car seat” to call the National Human Trafficking Hotline. But the police department’s Facebook post was actually refuting — not supporting — the idea that the car seat in the photo was left as part of a human trafficking trap.

“The Wilkesboro Police Department has investigated this incident and discovered the circumstances of how the seat was left in the parking lot,” the department wrote. “Two customers walked out of Walmart after purchasing a new child car seat. An older seat was removed from their car and placed on the ground and the new child seat was installed. The customers then left the parking lot leaving the old child seat behind on the ground. At no time was this incident deemed to be involved in any criminal activity.” Tommy Rhodes, interim chief of the department, said in a phone interview that police reviewed security footage and watched the events unfold to determine what actually happened. “If we for one second thought that was a sex trafficking ploy, we would be all over that,” he said.