Fake news has become a menace that we face every. Hardly a day goes by without us witnessing an online miscreant(s) trying to trick unsuspecting users with all sort of malicious ploy.
Mr. Bean star Rowan Atkinson is the latest victim of a death hoax. The fake news of Mr. Bean's death which began to spread on social media networks on Wednesday, 18 July, 2018 comes with a headlines that reads:
"FOX BREAKING NEWS: 'Mr. BEAN (Rowan Atkinson)' died at 62 After Crashing his Car on Attempt perfecting a Stun - Today July, 2017".
According to news reports, clicking on the video link would lead users to an error page claiming that the computer is in a lockdown. The user will be told to contact a support number to unlock the system.
However, the support number is a fake number meant to extract personal data such as credit card details, bank account information and other personal data of the victim.
As it is a common trend on social media network, fans began to troop in, bombarding their condolence messages on different social media platforms which even helped in fueling the scam. Such was it that the it became one of the trending topics on Google and other search engines.