Simon Cowell has also featured in death hoax social media posts.

Another death hoax that’s been shared widely recently targets British celebrity Simon Cowell, claiming “SAD NEW” was confirmed about the producer “39 Minutes Ago In Chicago”.

While the Facebook post⁴ doesn’t specifically mention a death, Cowell’s photo is juxtaposed next to a coffin in a composite image that also depicts a crushed, burnt out vehicle.

A reverse image search of the damaged car reveals the photo was taken in Texas in 2023 after a head-on collision, as reported by NBC News⁵.

Cowell’s personal Instagram account has been active in recent days, sharing clips from his TV show’s account, America’s Got Talent.

Andrea Carson⁶, a digital communications expert at La Trobe University, said the false posts are being used to generate revenue by directing users to web pages hosting advertisements.

“It tends to be for eyeballs that these falsehoods are generated and what more likely way to do so than to focus on a made-up but shocking story about a celebrity,” Professor Carson told AAP FactCheck.

“The best thing that people can do when they see one is to resist the temptation to click.”

Agata Stepnik⁷, a digital communications expert at the University of Sydney, said that while celebrity death hoaxes are as old as social media itself, artificial intelligence (AI) tools are increasingly making the false claims more convincing, which helps boost engagement.

“These specific examples seem to be examples of how generative AI tools like Dall-E and Midjourney can be used to generate convincing images to go with the hoax headline,” Dr Stepnik told AAP FactCheck.

Late in 2024, Facebook owner Meta updated its content monetisation policies, which state that “providers posting content flagged as misinformation and false news may be ineligible or may lose their eligibility to monetise”.

The posts, however, all attempt to entice users to click through to external websites that host ads and could be used for even more nefarious purposes, Dr Stepnik explained.

“Essentially, following the link usually takes the user to a phishing webpage, where they can then be set up to be scammed or defrauded,” she said.

AAP FactCheck has previously debunked similar engagement scams⁸ involving fake news about the royal family.

AAP FactCheck is an accredited member of the International Fact-Checking Network⁹. To keep up with our latest fact checks, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Threads¹⁰, X, BlueSky¹¹, TikTok¹² and YouTube¹³.