Since May 2017, rumours about the death of former First Lady of the Philippines Imelda Marcos have again been circulating via Facebook and Twitter.
However, at the time of writing, Imelda Marcos is not dead. According to a May 14 Filipino Express report, Marcos herself dismissed the rumour, noting that she was “still alive, just old”. And, there are no credible news reports that indicate that she has since died.
The rumour gained traction after Bacoor City Mayor Lani Mercado’s Twitter account posted a message stating that Imelda Marcos had died. Mercado later apologised and removed the false post, claiming that her Twitter account had been hacked.
One source of the persistent death rumour is a fake story published on a dubious “news” website called “Asia News”. The story claims – falsely – that the death had been confirmed and that Marcos died of cardiac arrest.
The story does not cite any references for its claims. Information derived from the web page’s source code suggests that a version of the false story was first published on January 1st, 2016 and then modified on May 25, 2017.
It is wise to verify any death reports that come your way before you share them on social media. If a celebrity or well-known person does die, then the death will be widely reported by the mainstream media. So, searching a news aggregator such as Google News should quickly reveal if a circulating death report is true.
Note also that some fake death posts link to websites that contain malware.
An example of the death hoax post:
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
