The Cost Of A Lie: 40 Times People Made Up Silly Excuses And Got Caught

Lying is a common human tendency that often stems from the desire to avoid consequences or to gain an advantage. While some lies may go undetected, others can have serious implications and blow up in your face.

In this age of social media, we have seen numerous instances of people caught lying and facing the consequences of their actions. From politicians to celebrities, no one is immune to the backlash of being caught in a lie.

Today, we take a closer look at some of the most notable examples of people who gave fake excuses, and it blew up in their faces. So, whether you lie out of necessity or as a habit, be smart and learn from these guys. Or yours will be the next lie we feature in a similar article!

Admirable Dedication

What a wild ride this must have been for the person who lied about having a cyst removed from their knee. From limping around the office with a massive bandage to being defensive when asked about the scar, it was a tale of deceit that had the potential to go terribly wrong from the start.

However, we have to give it to her, because of her dedication and commitment to making the injury believable. We would have promptly forgotten to limp after a few hours of work! In the end, the only thing that suffered any kind of injury was probably her ego.

Lie As Old As Time

Winter is not a great season to endure, especially if you are sensitive to cold. It’s even worse when you have to get up early to catch the school bus, which was the case for this kid who had to go to school on the bus in 10-degree weather. 

We’ve all been here before, but frankly, we couldn’t fake it for three days! This kid was a champ! Anyway, after the third day, their parent got concerned and resolved to take them to the ER. We wonder how they finally broke the news.

Red-faced

In a hilarious turn of events, this person found themselves red-faced after telling a lie so they could take the exam they missed. Instead of coming clean about the real reason, they decided to play it safe by writing a false doctor’s note.

However, little did they know that the person in charge had seen one too many liars and was one step ahead. She called the doctor immediately while they stood there awkwardly, awaiting their fate. Well, at least they have a funny story to share at parties! 

Listen Carefully

Now, this is the definition of jumping the gun. Someone found themselves in an embarrassing situation when they were invited to an event with a co-worker. Since they weren’t interested in being friends with the said co-worker, they quickly lied and said they already had plans.

In a moment that we can only assume was equal parts sad and awkward, the co-worker pointed out that they hadn’t even told them when the proposed event was. We understand not being interested in socializing but be smart (and kind) and listen before making excuses, unlike this person.

Double Lie

This person found themselves in a sticky situation not once but twice in a short time. They told their manager they were too sick to show up for work one day. Later that night, they stupidly forgot and posted photos of themselves partying on social media. 

As if that wasn’t embarrassing enough, when the manager asked them about it, they lied again, saying it was a different night instead of coming clean. Unfortunately, since Google knows all, they were still caught. If this was you, would you have kept lying or come clean? 

Didn’t Count!

We don’t know if this is just a poor excuse or a strange case of someone who didn’t understand how the law works. For all intents and purposes, we have chosen to go with the first one. First lesson; never try to keep any information from the bureau, ever. 

They know everything. When an agent asked this person why he hadn’t disclosed his previous arrest in his application, he thought it was a perfectly good excuse to say he didn’t think it would count since he didn’t have a driver’s license – which is illegal. So things clearly didn’t go his way.

Med-Talk

Sometimes, lying can seem like the easiest solution, but lies have a reputation for spiraling out of control when you least expect it. This lady learned that the hard way while chatting with a stranger on the bus. To avoid revealing she was gay and, subsequently, homophobia, she spun a tale about visiting medical schools. 

Little did she know this simple act of deception would lead to some uncomfortable medical-related talk since the stranger was a doctor too. It is difficult to chat with someone about a profession you know nothing about, especially when they think you do. Must have been a long ride home for her.

Even Without Glasses, Hindsight Is 20/20

In a classic case of a lie gone wrong, this person found himself in a sticky situation when he told his boss he was having laser eye surgery to get out of a busy weekend of work. Unfortunately, this backfired on him since he could no longer wear glasses at work.

We can only imagine how awful and frustrating it would be to not be able to wear the glasses you need daily – all because you wanted to have one quiet weekend. Let’s hope he’ll get around to actually getting that laser eye surgery one day! Plus, there’s always contacts.

Leave a Message

This woman, her now ex-husband, and a group of friends were all set to visit a new amusement park one day. He convinced his wife that he had taken the day off work after speaking to his boss, so she didn’t bat an eye when his phone rang. 

Since she was on ‘coat check duty,’ she figured she could take a message for her ex-husband, who was riding a rollercoaster. We can only imagine the awkward conversation he had to have with his boss afterward. This is one of those situations that are usually completely avoidable.

When The Sun Snitches On You

See, the problem with taking time off from work by lying about being sick is that you have to be careful to not change your appearance too much, even if it is accidental. For example, in this person’s case, they got snitched on by the sun. 

They went out to the beach for their birthday but got severely sunburnt, which is not something that happens when you’re sick in bed. Plus, not only were their cover busted, but they also had to sit through having painfully burnt skin for a while, reminding them of their silliness. 

Televised Lies

This person’s ruse of calling in sick for work to attend a university volleyball game was short-lived. Fate, or perhaps it was karma, decided that the game was to be televised, and since it was their time to be caught in a lie, their seat was in clear view behind the serving line.

Every time a player served the ball, their face would be clear as day on TV. We can only hope that the next day at work, their boss didn’t ask about the migraine that seemingly didn’t prevent them from enjoying the lights and excitement of the match! Talk about a busted alibi.

Telling On Yourself

Let’s face it, everyone has overslept at one point or another. Unfortunately, this person didn’t handle it in the best way. They lied to their boss that their car battery had died, so they were late for work since they had to wait for someone to come help them jumpstart their car. 

Months later, when their car battery actually died, they asked someone to help but did not report late for work or lie about it. However, they did make the mistake of saying this was the first time they had someone jumpstart their car, which was quite incriminating.

Report, Please

This person had a strict professor, the kind that wouldn’t allow you to enter the class or an exam late. So when they realized they were going to be late, they decided to lie and say that their home was broken into, so they couldn’t make it on time. 

Most professors are strict for a reason. College students are not the most honest group of people out there, and as we’ve seen, people lie for the lamest reasons. So, this particular one accepted the reason but asked for the police report as proof. We wonder what the student said to that.

Failed Attempt

This teacher tried to get out of attending a conference with her head of department with no luck. We don’t blame her, though. We wouldn’t want to attend more work-related stuff with the boss if we didn’t have to. However, we kind of understand why this one didn’t work out. 

The weekend was interpreted as ‘this’ weekend, so when her excuse didn’t work, she had to go the next time she was asked since it was another weekend. It was a sneaky play on words on the boss’ side, and that’s why it worked against the teacher. 

Awkward Encounter At The Tanning Salon

This person decided it was a good idea to call in sick to get a tanning session. If you are going to use such an excuse to do something as silly as this, make sure it’s far enough or not local to your co-workers. 

Not only was she busted by her co-worker, but as fate would have it, the person who saw her had just been promoted and was now her new manager. Yikes. Now, what we’d like to know is why this newly promoted co-worker was also at the salon at the time.

Thanks, Mom

For some reason, this person hated jam on their sandwiches. When they complained to their parents about it, their mom decided it was a good idea to lie to the school and tell them their child couldn’t eat it. Gotta love moms; they always come through for you.

Unfortunately, the school interpreted this as them not being allowed to eat any sugar since that’s pretty much what jam is made of. So at every birthday party, they were painfully reminded of their mum’s well-meaning gesture that backfired on them.

Hungover

There is no way you can be productive at work with a hangover. But you can’t use it as a reason to call in sick since it is completely avoidable by being responsible when partying. So, if you find yourself in this fix, it’s best to take a personal day. 

As it often happens after good times, the hangover gods had knocked on this woman’s door. So, she called work and told her boss one of her cat’s new kittens was ill. This backfired on her since she had to get up and take the healthy kitties to the vet while hungover.

Big Lies Just For A Cruise

When you have booked an expensive and exciting cruise, there is not much that could make you move or cancel it. But when you get a great new job offer with a probation period, things get dicey because you’re forced to reconsider. 

This is why you should always ask questions and read contracts thoroughly before accepting a job. When this guy found out he couldn’t miss work for his cruise, he lied about his father’s death. Frankly, we hope he never has to go through that in real life while still at that job.

Unnecessary Lies

This one is certainly odd. The decision to leave a job can be very tricky, but once you decide you want to quit, just quit. Don’t make up false excuses that someone has passed since it’s not like you need a few days off. You’re leaving for good! 

This woman lied about needing to move back home since both her parents had tragically died. The problem was the town was small, and she still had family there who didn’t cover her lie. We hope she never had to go back there since it would have been awkward.

Pure Silliness

Being a parent comes with its own unique set of problems, but even so, we doubt anyone would be prepared for something like this. With that said, it’s a bit hilarious since it involves a child and their lack of knowledge of how life and family work. 

When this person was younger, they did not want to do their homework one day, so they decided to tell their mom their gran passed. Though we are sure their mom was not impressed at the time, we know they probably laugh about it now.

Too Far

You can lie about being slightly ill or having to go to an important appointment, but one thing that you should never lie about is the passing of a close person for your own gain. This person ended up feeling so guilty after doing that, so learn from them.

They said their grandma had passed just so they could attend a concert. As any good colleagues would, everyone signed a card for them, sending their condolences. Needless to say, they were left feeling really bad about their stupid lie.

Good Friends

With this one, we sort of understand the reason for lying. If you are trying to avoid people like your ex, we understand making excuses. But as we have mentioned, lies are tricky, especially when they involve loved ones, since you never know when or how the truth will come out.

When this person’s sweet friend found out that the excuse was that their gran was ill, she decided to stop by and bring them some flowers. We wonder if granny played a long and acted sick or if this ended up being another awkward moment in this long list of bad excuses.

Cash or Card?

This is a tricky one because regardless of how charitable you are, sometimes people asking for donations can become too much for anyone. As it turns out, they are getting smarter by the day and now take credit cards too!

Gone are the days when you could confidently use the age-old excuse of saying you don’t have cash on you. At this rate, they could also come up with a way to accept cheques and bitcoin down the road! Be safe out there, guys.

Fake French In A Foreign Land

If you are a woman, you might have experienced this more often. No one likes it when random strangers come on too aggressively when flirting. After this student experienced this a couple of times while studying in Japan, they decided enough was enough one night and chose to lean on French. 

We completely understand why they thought this would be a good idea. Nothing puts a dump on being hit on faster than a language barrier. The only problem was the one time she decided to use this maneuver, it ended up being on someone fluent in French! Such terrible timing.

Manifesting

Manifesting gurus say if you want something to come true, you can try saying it out loud so it will manifest into reality and come true. However, we are 100% sure this is not what this woman wanted for her kids when she used them as an excuse.

As most mums do, she used her kids as an excuse not to go to a party she didn’t want to attend. Unfortunately for her, the lie she made up ended up ‘manifesting’ and became her reality that night. Maybe we should try that trick with money in our bank accounts!

When Your Boss Is Family

The problem with working for family is that not only can things get difficult if you argue or underperform, but you also can’t use the excuse that someone in your family has an emergency because, well, they are your family.

So, if your boss is close family, surely they would also know that someone was ill in the family, which makes us wonder how this lady had the nerve to use this lame excuse. Well, the thing with family is that they can also be a bit more forgiving, so hopefully, she wasn’t fired.

Cross-Examination

The first days of doing something new can be sufficiently overwhelming to make your body convince itself that it is not well enough to go through with whatever you need to do. In this case, this person’s alarm didn’t go off on their first day as a senior at school.

They made an excuse to their school, which was strict with its late-comer policy, that they felt ill. Later, their father also called on their behalf, but he made a different excuse from the one they had initially given. What an awkward first day.

Mother Knows Best

At first, we couldn’t understand what the issue was, but that’s only because we skimmed over the lie too fast. Being grounded without phone or computer privileges is the worst, so we totally get this guy. We’ve lived through similar situations.

As expected, he found a way to talk to his boyfriend while still on punishment, but unfortunately, he got caught. At the time, he’d also not come out to his parents yet, so we can only imagine how nervous they must have been.  

Courtesy Car

This is one we would never have expected, so we would be just as shocked as this person was. When they thought they had the day off after saying they took in their car for an oil change, their supervisor was kind enough to come up with a quick solution.

As they headed off to the mall with their friend, they got a shocking text that said someone had been sent to come pick them up. The only thing that would make this situation worse is if the person who came saw the car in the compound as they drove in.

Lunch Money

This one not only backfired on this girl, but it probably also made her feel bad since her dad went out of his way to bring her lunch money. She skipped school to hang out with her boyfriend like most of us did at some point.

Her undoubtedly blissful day turned sour when her dad decided to surprise her at school and bring her some lunch money. He was probably disappointed, as any father would have been. It’s safe to assume that there’s no way that guy is ever getting any kind of approval from the old man.

Busted

Let this be a lesson to everyone who makes lame excuses to skip work, school, or projects to attend an event. If you do this, then be smart enough to control the urge to post anything on social media. Yes, we know it’s tempting, but it’s not worth the risk.

If you post, chances are, you will get busted. For example, one of the group members on this person’s group project saw their photos and videos, she commented, asking sarcastically about their granny. Also, what is it with people lying about their grandmas?

Trying New Things

This one is sure to make you cringe. It is never okay to yell at service staff, be it at a hotel, a hospital, a convenience store, or anywhere else for that matter. It’s especially wrong when it happens that the thing you’re complaining about is not true.

This kid wanted to try a pastrami sandwich for the first time, but instead of fessing up that they didn’t like it, they said they were allergic. While the kid was wrong, the aunt was the adult, and there was clearly a better way to handle that situation.

Caught

When you know your co-worker is constantly giving weak excuses to miss work, it can be frustrating, especially if there is no proof. Luckily for this person, their colleague was caught in a lie that was quite impossible to explain away.

She had made an excuse to skip work to care for her sick daughter, only to be busted when the kid’s dad showed up to her work with said daughter since she had also lied to him that she was at work. Must have been an embarrassing day at work the following day.

Meeting Prep

This one had to sting. This person skipped work for an actual reason – his HVAC system was not working as it should. But rather than returning to work as soon as it was fixed, he decided to remain home and take advantage, which we’ve all done before.

Unfortunately, his boss demanded that he shows up to work to attend a very important meeting. Little did they know that it would be the meeting that sealed his fate at that company. Do you think it would have made a difference if he’d gone in earlier?

Get The Hint

If someone is often avoiding or declining your invitations, it is best to get the hint and stop inviting them. For example, if someone says they are going to the doctor on a Sunday, they are probably making an excuse. 

This person clearly didn’t want to attend church with their friend based on this explanation. However, we get that it can be a bit tricky to declare that, especially when you’re kids. That same reason could explain why the ‘doctor appointment on a Sunday’ excuse worked!

Towel Thief

We don’t know if this excuse was valid or not, but either way, it seems like a very odd reason to skip work. Tracking down who stole your towels by playing Sherlock Holmes for the day? Well, if you have insanely expensive towels, go for it. 

Maybe someone really did steal their towels, but surely it can wait until after work to try and catch whoever that strange thief was. If it was just a false excuse, we highly recommend coming up with a better one next time. A stolen car, for instance.

Tummy Aches

If you’ve never watched Bridesmaids before, there is a hilarious scene in the movie where one of the characters had an upset tummy and had an embarrassing moment in public. So, we totally understand this person because it was not pretty!

We also get why someone wouldn’t want to openly admit they need to go to the bathroom due to an embarrassing tummy ache. We would also have likely made up some excuse to find relief far away from the group. 

Double Or Nothing!

If you are going to make excuses to your landlord about money, be honest or at least realistic. Being late with rent is a part of life since emergencies, and unprecedented needs are part of life. However, there are people who are just careless and bad with money.

This guy was probably one of those people. The thing about a silly excuse like this is that it just sounds insulting. If this guy was in the habit of being late with the rent, this would certainly be the last straw.

Family Responsibility

Mental health, as well as family responsibility, are valid reasons to use to get off of work. But saying that you can’t come to work because you have to look after your pet since it seemed ‘depressed’ is not a valid excuse. 

We are pretty sure the office would not accept this person’s excuse to look after their cat because it was depressed, yet they still felt confident to use it as an excuse. As much as we feel for the poor kitty and hope it’s okay, this was not okay.

Salty

This excuse didn’t really backfire in anyone’s face; it merely caused someone to be a bit lonelier on their birthday. This person’s birthday was on Halloween, which is difficult since most people often make plans months ahead for the widely celebrated day. 

Well, we actually sympathize with her. There’s nothing worse than being alone on your birthday when you really had big plans for it. For all the people out there whose birthdays fall on Halloween, we hope this year brings better luck with parties!