According to a post that is circulating rapidly via social media, popular singer Celine Dion has died in a plane crash.
The post, which includes the CNN logo, features pictures of the star along with the caption “Rest in Peace Celine Dion 1968-2019.
However, the claims in the post are untrue. Celine Dion is alive and well. There are no credible news or social media reports that back up the claims in the message in any way. Moreover, despite the logo, the post has no connection to CNN.
In fact, the post is just another celebrity death hoax designed to trick you into visiting a scam website.
Clicking the post opens a website that supposedly has more information about the singer’s demise. The site features what appears to be a video news segment. However, when you try to play the video, you will be told that you must share on Facebook to “uncover’ the content.
If you do share, you may then be prompted to visit further dodgy websites that try to trick you into supplying your personal information. Any information you provide will be shared with scammy marketing companies who will subsequently bombard you with unwanted promotional material.
Celebrity death hoaxes like this are often used to trick people into downloading malware.
If you see this fake Celine Dion death post, do not click on it. And let the person who posted it know that the message is a hoax.
Death hoaxes and scams that target celebrities are very common.
You can read more about such scams here.
A screenshot of the hoax post:
A screenshot of the scam website:
Importance Notice
After considerable thought and with an ache in my heart, I have decided that the time has come to close down the Hoax-Slayer website.These days, the site does not generate enough revenue to cover expenses, and I do not have the financial resources to sustain it going forward.
Moreover, I now work long hours in a full-time and physically taxing job, so maintaining and managing the website and publishing new material has become difficult for me.
And finally, after 18 years of writing about scams and hoaxes, I feel that it is time for me to take my fingers off the keyboard and focus on other projects and pastimes.
When I first started Hoax-Slayer, I never dreamed that I would still be working on the project all these years later or that it would become such an important part of my life. It's been a fantastic and engaging experience and one that I will always treasure.
I hope that my work over the years has helped to make the Internet a little safer and thwarted the activities of at least a few scammers and malicious pranksters.
A Big Thank You
I would also like to thank all of those wonderful people who have supported the project by sharing information from the site, contributing examples of scams and hoaxes, offering suggestions, donating funds, or helping behind the scenes.I would especially like to thank David White for his tireless contribution to the Hoax-Slayer Facebook Page over many years. David's support has been invaluable, and I can not thank him enough.
Closing Date
Hoax-Slayer will still be around for a few weeks while I wind things down. The site will go offline on May 31, 2021. While I will not be publishing any new posts, you can still access existing material on the site until the date of closure.Thank you, one and all!
Brett Christensen,
Hoax-Slayer
