CNN.com – Man admits Christmas lights Web site scam – Dec 28, 2004

This guy creates this huge elaborate hoax saying that you can control his Christmas lights from the web and now admits it was a hoax. He went as far as putting extension cords to his neighbors’ trees and getting them in on it, and putting up changing “web cam” photos showing subtle changes to lead people to believe the shot was live. He went to a ton of work to keep up the hoax.

Thing is, why the hoax? It seems like what he was doing to keep it up was far more difficult than actually just making it happen for real. Even if he was inept at computers, sure he knows someone who could figure out how to make it happen. Finding that person must be easier than keeping up the hoax.