Over 20 Facebook (FB) posts falsely claimed that actor Jaime Fabregas has passed away. The hoaxes carried links that redirect to an e-commerce site.
A netizen asked VERA Files Fact Check via FB Messenger to look into these posts.
The clickbait hoaxes, published on June 15 and 16, were captioned: “Rest in Peace Mr. Jaime Fabregas aka Lolo Delfin.” Fabregas played the role of Lolo Delfin in the hit action teleserye Ang Probinsyano.
In a June 16 Instagram post, Fabregas showed himself alive and well. The video displayed the exact time — 1:46 p.m. — when he said the following statement:
“Mga kababayan, ngayon po ay June 16, 2023. Ako po ay buhay na buhay at nakikita ninyo. Kaya huwag po maniwala diyan sa mga balita na ako po ay pumanaw na.”
(My countrymen, today is June 16, 2023. I am very much alive, and you can see me. So don’t believe the rumors saying that I passed away.)
He also asked people to stop spreading such lies. He wrote as his caption:
“Doon po sa mga nag post, sana burahin niyo na. Lahat naman tayo ay mamamatay. Hantayin po nating mangyari (To those who made the post, please delete it already. All of us will die anyway. Let’s wait for it to happen).”
To bait people into clicking on bogus links, the hoaxes’ thumbnails featured a collage of photos of Fabregas alongside actors Coco Martin, John Prats, and the late movie queen, Susan Roces.
The bogus links redirect to affiliate pages on e-commerce platform Shopee. Among the endorsed products were ceramic mugs, dish racks, Ang Probinsyano-themed T-shirts and mugs, and a children’s toy known as lato-lato.
The bogus posts, which got over 61,110 interactions collectively, appeared five days after the cast of Ang Probinsyano got together for a birthday. Fabregas was not reported among those who attended.
FB pages Angel Locsin “Queen” (created on Sept. 29, 2019), Pbb 8 updates (created on Jan. 21, 2019), and Secret Message (created on April 16, 2019) carried the bogus posts that had the most interactions, according to social media monitoring tool CrowdTangle.
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(Editor’s Note: VERA Files has partnered with Facebook to fight the spread of disinformation. Find out more about this partnership and our methodology.)
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