Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt (FUD)
A disinformation strategy used in sales, marketing, public relations, politics and propaganda, where one is trying to influence perception by disseminating negative and dubious or false information and a manifestation of the appeal to fear.
Origin
The term was coined in 1975 by Gene Amdahl, a computer architect who had left IBM to found Amdahl Corporation. Amdahl used it to name the sales tactics IBM representatives employed to discourage customers from considering his competing mainframes — instilling fear, uncertainty, and doubt about any alternative. The phrase circulated within the technology industry and was documented in Eric Raymond's The Jargon File before entering general use in the 1990s, primarily as a description of Microsoft's competitive practices.