The paper discusses spoof news as a parody of the traditional genre of news and the role of intertextual references in the creation of the intended humorous or satirical effect. The study is based on the texts published by various online sources specialising in the production and spreading of spoof news. On the surface, the main aim of such non-bona fide pieces of news is not to misinform the readers, but rather to entertain them. However, along with entertainment, these texts also convey serious social implications. They implicitly undermine social norms and values and existing stereotypes about social roles and patterns of behaviour. The non-bona fide mode of such news can be signalled by a variety of intertextual references, e.g., fictional quotations, allusions to well-known texts, events or realia. The aim of the study is to demonstrate how these intertextual references create satirical effect and convey social criticism.