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: