Outline:
Circulating Facebook post claims that American actor and wrestler Mr. T has died. It asks you to show your respect by sharing the post and suggests that you click ‘like’ if you liked Mr. T.
Brief Analysis:
Mr. T is not dead. The post is a callous scam designed to promote a Facebook profile and gather as many likes as possible.
Detailed Analysis:
According to a post that has been circulating on Facebook, Mr. T of A Team fame has died. The ‘R.I.P Mr. T’ post features a photograph of Mr T along with the caption ‘1952 – 2016’. The post asks that you show your respect by sharing to let people know about the actor’s passing. It also asks that you like the post if you liked Mr. T.
However, the US actor and wrestler, perhaps best known for his role as tough guy B. A. Baracus in the 80’s TV series ‘The A Team’, is not dead. There are no credible news or entertainment reports that support the claim that Mr. T has died. In fact, the star is alive and well and recently celebrated his 64th birthday.
So, what might have prompted someone to create and post this false R.I.P. message? Sadly, the false death post is just a callous and underhand method of promoting a particular Facebook profile. By creating the fake post and then asking people to share and like it, the perpetrator’s public Facebook profile will be seen by an increasing number of people and he will thus gain many new followers. The post has also migrated to Twitter, thereby giving the perpetrator even more undeserved attention.
Such fake R.I.P like-farming posts are an increasing trend on Facebook. Don’t help these immoral users by liking and sharing their bogus material.
Remember that, if a celebrity really does die, his or her passing will always be extensively covered by the mainstream media. Thus, searching an online news aggregator such as Google News should quickly reveal if a post about the demise of a celebrity is true.
Last updated: May 24, 2016
First published: May 24, 2016
By Brett M. Christensen
About Hoax-Slayer
References
Mr. T on Twitter
Don’t Get Caught by Celebrity Death Hoaxes and Scams
Happy Birthday! Mr. T Turns 64 Today
Source: hoax-slayer.net – hoaxes
