‘He lived a full life’: ‘Tributes’ stream for Sunrise presenter David Koch, 67, as he is rocked by viral death hoax
David “Kochie” Koch is the target of a vicious death scheme in which criminals use his image and fake news about his passing to scam people out of thousands of dollars.
The 67-year-old Sunrise presenter was bombarded with ‘tributes’ this weekend when a Twitter post announcing his death went viral. Oh dear reports.
Originating from a hacked account, the tweet contained a link redirecting users to a cryptocurrency scam featuring fraudulent celebrity endorsements purportedly from the likes of Koch, billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates, and others.
“While saying goodbye is never easy, we take comfort in knowing that Kochie lived a full and meaningful life and left a legacy of kindness, warmth and compassion,” the scam tweet read.
The message was accompanied by a black and white photo of Koch looking distraught with his hands in front of his face.
Sunrise host David ‘Kochie’ Koch is the target of a vicious death hoax where criminals use his image and fake news about his passing to scam people out of thousands of dollars
Koch retweeted the post, assuring his followers that despite taking a week off from work, he was “alive and well.”
‘To be clear, I live and enjoy AFL’s Gather Round in Adelaide with my whole family. This stuff really gives me the s**ts,” he said.
The owner of the Twitter account, Kimberly Ramirez, told Crikey that she “had no idea” that her hacked account was spreading a crypto scam under the guise of paying tribute to Koch.
The Channel Seven presenter was bombarded with ‘tributes’ this weekend when a Twitter post announcing his death went viral, Crikey reports.
“I had no idea this was happening. I deleted the app from my phone for a while and forgot about it,” said the New York-based ad executive.
She went on to say that she received an email from Twitter alerting her to a login attempt on her account. The email stated that the hacker could have accessed her account from Lake Forest, Illinois.
After successfully hacking into her account, they changed the password and started spamming her profile with links to the cryptocurrency scam.
“This son of a bitch left me over $1,000 in advertising debt,” Ms. Ramirez said.
Originating from a hacked account, the tweet contained a link redirecting users to a crypto scam featuring fraudulent celebrity endorsements purportedly from the likes of Koch
Koch’s death hoax was viewed 140,000 times and more than 6,000 Twitter users clicked on the ad, which led them to a website pushing Immediate Edge.
The get-rich-quick scam boasts fake endorsements from celebrities like Jeremy Clarkson, Piers Morgan, and Justin Trudeau.
People who have fallen victim to the scam claim they signed up with the service expecting “big returns” from cryptocurrency investments, but lost access to their accounts after depositing hundreds or even thousands of dollars.
Koch retweeted the post, assuring his followers that despite taking a week off from work, he was “alive and well”
‘To be clear, I live and enjoy AFL’s Gather Round in Adelaide with my whole family. This stuff really gives me the s**ts,” said Koch (pictured at an AFL game in June 2018)