Anecdotal Fallacy
Anecdotal Evidence Fallacy
Using anecdotal evidence—informal testimony or personal experiences—as if it were sufficient proof for a general claim.
Origin
The anecdotal fallacy, also called the "person who" fallacy (statements like "I know a person who..."), is an informal fallacy in which individuals base general conclusions on limited, informally collected examples rather than systematic evidence. While anecdotal reasoning has likely existed throughout human history, formalization of the fallacy emerged in modern logic and rhetoric scholarship. The error occurs when a recent memory, striking anecdote, or unusual news story leads one to overestimate the probability of such events, especially when better statistical evidence is available. Anecdotal evidence is frequently involved with the post hoc fallacy.