Learn French: Personne ne croit à ce canular absurde. - Nobody believes in this absurd hoax.

When personne (nobody/no one) is used as the subject of a negative sentence, it pairs with ne before the verb, replacing the need for pas. The standard negative structure here is simply Personne ne followed by the verb.

Why do we use croit à instead of just croit or croire en?

The verb croire uses different prepositions depending on the meaning. Croire à is used for believing in the truth or existence of a thing (like a hoax, a myth, or ghosts). Croire en is mostly reserved for deep faith or trust, like believing in God or having confidence in a person. Using croire with no preposition is used when believing a specific person or statement directly.

Doesn't the word personne mean 'a person'? How can we tell it means 'nobody' in this context?

You can tell by the absence of an article and the presence of ne. The noun for 'a person' requires an article, as in une personne, and its standard negation would need pas (Une personne ne croit pas...). When personne is used without an article and is paired with ne, it acts as the negative pronoun meaning 'nobody'.

Is canular the standard French word for a lie?