“Never trust a statistic you haven't faked yourself”. Of course “faked” is deliberately overblown, but just the way you collect your data could already amount

“Never trust a statistic you haven't faked yourself”. Of course “faked” is deliberately overblown, but just the way you collect your data could already amount to a “fake”, even if it wasn't deliberate. So those statistics mentioned by GP could be honest as far as intentions are concerned. It would merely be incompetence.