14 DAY TRIAL // It appears there’s a prankster or group of pranksters that likes to make up fake stories about dead wrestlers. After declaring World Wrestling Entertainment’s John Cena dead, the scammers started flooding social media networks with rumors about the death of Rey Mysterio.
Apparently, a police investigation has been launched after Rey Mysterio died while practicing a tombstone stunt with Big Show.
Hoax Slayer has come across a sample of this hoax on Facebook. It reads something like this:
“ReY Mysterio of WWE was dead on arrival on the hospital, suffering from 6 broken ribs after perfecting tombstone stunt with co-star The BIG SHOW. Local Police are now investigating and looking for evidences. THE Big SHOW is now facing murder charges. Watch the practice video from WWE and how The BIG SHOW failed to execute the stunt. (for 18yrs & above)”
Although Rey Mysterion might not be in his best shape, he is certainly not dead. The cybercrooks have started spreading the rumor with the purpose of advertising a malicious WWE app called “Get Access” that’s designed to trick Internet users into participating at all sorts of surveys.
First “Get Access” requests permission to access the victim’s basic information and posts on their behalves. This is needed to make sure that the fake post and, implicitly the shady application, are seen by as many internauts as possible.
But that’s not all. The user is then presented a webpage that promises him/her the chance to win an iPad, a Westfield gift card, an iPhone or a grocery voucher in return for the completion of a survey.
During the survey, the victim might be asked to provide all sorts of sensitive information and even to sign up for suspicious mobile services.
The bottom line is that no one ever wins anything with these surveys, except for the fraudsters who run them. Also, Rey Mysterion is not dead, and neither is John Cena.
So, whenever you see such posts on Facebook, be sure to check their legitimacy before rushing to install applications and completing surveys.