False cause
Etymology
The umbrella Latin name is "non causa pro causa," "a non-cause taken for a cause," a category Aristotle already discussed. It covers the more specific post hoc and cum hoc errors as well as plain misattribution. The common thread is naming a cause the evidence does not actually support.
noun phrase · /FAWLS KAWZ/
Identifying something as the cause of an effect without adequate grounds.
What it names
Spotting it is the general skill behind every "but did it really cause that?" question.
Example
Blaming the new manager for a sales dip that began months before she arrived is a false cause.
Related idea
Post hoc and cum hoc are its two best-known species, keyed to sequence and to correlation.