In late May 2019, posts mourning the death of former Sri Lankan cricketer Sanath Jayasuriya began circulating via Twitter and Facebook.
The circulating posts indicated that Sanath Jayasuriya died after being knocked down by a car while he was visiting Canada.
However, the claims are untrue. Sanath Jayasuriya is alive and well and has not been involved in a car accident.
The Times of India investigated the reports and has dismissed them as false. The Times contacted the Sri Lanka High Commission in New Delhi who confirmed that the death story was untrue.
A post was added to Sanath Jayasuriya’s official Facebook profile after the date of his supposed passing.
And, a tweet from an (unverified) Twitter account identified as ‘The Official Account of Sanath Jayasuriya” notes:
Please disregard fake news by malicious websites regarding my health and well being.
I am in Srilanka and have not visited Canada recently.Please avoid sharing fake news.— Sanath Jayasuriya (@Sanath07) May 21, 2019
Other news outlets have also dismissed the death reports as untrue.
The circulating death rumours were apparently derived from a false report published on a “news” site called CBTV
The CBTV report noted:
Man who was knocked down by a Honda Civic vehicle in Canada yesterday sadly dies in hospital.
He passed away this morning – some few hours after sustaining serious injuries following the incident yesterday.
The man has been identified as Sanath Jayasuriya, former Sri Lankan cricketer.
The Sri Lankan Embassy in Canada has confirmed the identity of the 49 year old and said they were aware of his visit to Toronto, Canada.
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
