Dwayne Johnson, known as The Rock, has not died but has become the victim of two death hoaxes in the same week. One says he was killed in a fall and another scam said he died during “Fast & Furious 7” filming, but neither are true.
A recent one being spread via Facebook says Johnson died after falling to his death in New Zealand. It comes a few days after one--complete with a “RIP” image--said he died while filming a movie stunt for “Fast & Furious 7.”
But a new scam, which was being spread on Tuesday and Wednesday, reads: “Actor Dwayne Johnson died while filming a movie in New Zealand early this morning ... Preliminary reports from New Zealand Police officials indicate that the actor fell more than 60 feet to his death on the Kauri Cliffs while on-set. At about 11 a.m. ET on Saturday (April 05, 2014), our beloved actor Dwayne Johnson passed away. Dwayne Johnson was born on May 2, 1972 in Hayward. He will be missed but not forgotten. Please show your sympathy and condolences by commenting on and liking this page.”
Amid the scams, Johnson tweeted on Wednesday: “Alright.. 3 hrs sleep, but kickin' jet lag’s [expletive]. Its time to work.. Good morning from lovely London.” He also offered his condolences to the family of wrestler Ultimate Warrior, who died Tuesday night.
The first hoax was created to drive traffic to a specific Facebook page, which will likely then be sold to other scammers or online marketers.
The other death hoax Facebook post that claims Johnson died while filming “Fast & Furious 7” serves the same purpose--generate traffic to a website.
It’s not recommended to “like” or share the death hoax posts. They can prompt the downloading of malware or useless software, rogue Facebook apps that access your account, or have bogus survey scams.
“And, once you share, ‘like’ or comment on the page, you will only help them achieve their goal. So, if you have already shared, ‘liked’ or commented on the hoax, please remove the shared post, comment or unlike it, because this will help stop this hoax from spreading to other social networking users,” says a bulletin from Online Threat Alerts.
