Published on: January 5, 2026, 07:13h.

Updated on: January 5, 2026, 07:13h.

Pro tip: If you Google a headline suspecting its validity, and your search leads to personal blogs, obscure social media accounts, or dubious “news outlets”, you may have already found your answer.

Yet here we are again. This winter, an outdated myth concerning a Las Vegas cleaning staff member who supposedly devised a scheme for a multimillion-dollar paternity payout resurfaced. This sparked yet another wave of eager shares from individuals who equate a story that “feels true” with verified facts.

If anyone had taken a moment to consult a reliable A.I. tool, they would discover that this tale is simply “an internet hoax with no factual basis tied to any genuine Las Vegas case,” as highlighted by Microsoft CoPilot upon our inquiry.

But we get it—crafting a full question on your smartphone can be more tedious than just hitting “share” and enjoying the cascade of “OMG no way” reactions.

Especially while you’re on the go.

The Recycle of Falsehoods

We tracked the origin of this myth back to a December 2019 post from ihlayanews.com. This is an African satire site that masquerades as credible journalism, except for its motto—which you would need to understand means “news parody that you enjoy” in Afrikaans.

The piece claimed that a 40-year-old hotel maid discovered a used condom in the garbage of a wealthy 24-year-old tech entrepreneur’s room, leading to a bizarre narrative of creating life and securing a $2 million child support agreement.

“At that moment, I really wanted a child and thought it would be best to have a baby with a wealthy individual,” the woman referred to as “Jane” allegedly stated during her court proceedings.

To emphasize her notion of wealth, the tale claimed Jane discovered a bank statement left carelessly on the nightstand, showcasing the occupant’s financial status.

As if anyone illustrates their wealth by having a printed bank statement that they nonchalantly leave out for hotel staff to find.

And, really, who even looks at a physical bank statement these days?

Surprisingly, countless individuals, who consider themselves to be savvy, have circulated Jane’s yarn for six years without discerning any anomalies. (The initial report also inaccurately labeled the tech entrepreneur as a millionaire rather than a billionaire, a distinction that wouldn’t even secure him a basic Silicon Valley apartment in 2019.)

To be fair, let’s acknowledge an important point: the latest group of sharers wouldn’t have noticed any flags waving. This time, they disregarded the original article link entirely—there was no link to any source.

What they shared was merely a summary with an attached image!

Folks, if there’s no link to an article, your name shouldn’t be associated with it either. It’s not complicated.

Perhaps the true myth we’re exposing isn’t about the condom tale but the idea that anyone values the truth on the internet anymore.

Catch “Vegas Myths Busted” every Monday on Casino.org. Explore VegasMythsBusted.com to uncover previously debunked Vegas myths. Have a suggestion for a myth that needs unraveling? Email [email protected].