Famous martial arts film star Chuck Norris has allegedly died due to the coronavirus pandemic. The rumor, which is spreading around social media like wildfire, claims that the 80-year-old action star has fallen in his fight against the COVID-19 virus.
However, the news is false and baseless, which comes as a relief to the star's fans. Norris is well-known for his role in the 1972 martial arts film "The Way of the Dragon," where he fought with the legendary Bruce Lee.
Death of the mighty star?
The Hollywood star is alive and well. Previous death hoaxes have targeted the star in the past, according to Snopes. One such hoax was manufactured as a survey scam that spread through Facebook, claiming the actor's death as a means to circulate the scam to various unsuspecting victims.
The actor is famous for a long-running meme that exaggerates the actor's seemingly invincible status. One Twitter user wrote, "This just in, Coronavirus has tested positive for Chuck Norris and is now in quarantine."
The original post that spread the false information was an article that stated the actor had the "minor inconvenience" of dying and has since made a full recovery. The site attached to the article is named "Conservative Tears" with a fitting tagline that reads, 'Death hoaxes for your thoughts and prayers.'
The website is full of hoaxes and creates fake news about famous people dying. The Chuck Norris article it released wrote how the Deputy Sheriff went to Norris' bedroom by sneaking in upstairs before he found the body.
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The false news also included a story of how Norris visited the US in support of President Donald Trump and was mysteriously killed off later on.
A 2012 death hoax of the star also did a runabout on social media, which led to a video news report detailing the actor's death. Upon opening the link, however, the user will be redirected to a survey answering form that is all too familiar for most online users.
The frequency of fraudulent scams
The survey scam is a common method used to direct traffic to specific sites, which will then earn the site's profits based on the number of views they receive. It featured several attractive options where you can earn vouchers or discounts to popular establishments, as reported by Naked Security.
Cybersecurity has been a priority for most people amid the coronavirus pandemic causing extended lockdown all around the world. And if you or someone you know have been the victim of these scams or anything similar, it would be wise to double-check your social media accounts to ensure you are well-protected.
If you have any worries that your accounts may be compromised, it would be best to secure it by changing your password.
"We do see scams and spams attacking pages as well, just not as frequently," Naked Security's Chester Wisniewski tells us. "Pages cannot be accessed by rogue applications the same as a wall post. They typically require you to phish the owner of the page and have a human do the spamming. This results in effort, and let's be fair, scammers are lazy, or they would stick with a legit job."
The statements come as a response to the fact that the Chuck Norris death hoax did not hit any official pages dedicated to the actor or any fan pages.
