14 DAY TRIAL // Pranksters are once again using the Global Associated News website to trick users into believing that an actor has died. This time, the victim is Mickey Rourke and the story says he has died in a snowboarding accident.
“Witnesses indicate that Mickey Rourke lost control of his snowboard and struck a tree at a high rate of speed. Mickey Rourke was air lifted by ski patrol teams to a local hospital, however, it is believed that the actor died instantly from the impact of the crash,” the bogus story reads.
This is not the first time when a celebrity is falsely declared dead, but users still seem to fall for it. Hoax Slayer has identified Facebook posts that linked to the hoax article and Travelers Today reports that someone even temporarily updated Rourke’s Wikipedia page to say that he died on January 23.
I once again urge users to check out the legitimacy of a story from trusted sources before spreading it. As I’ve mentioned on numerous occasions, such hoaxes can easily be adapted by cybercriminals who want to lure internauts to their malicious websites.