'Despicable' hoax claims Dave Dobbyn has died

Sir Dave Dobbyn. File photo via NZ Herald
Sir Dave Dobbyn. File photo via NZ Herald
Sir Dave Dobbyn's manager has blasted a "despicable" social media hoax claiming the Kiwi singing great has died.

Despite rumours on social media alarming fans saying Dobbyn had died, the singer is otherwise fine.

He is the latest celebrity to be targeted in a fake news scam on social media. The scam wrongly states that the legendary musician has died.

In a post on his Facebook page, his manager clarified the rumour is false. Lorraine Barry, Dobbyn's manager, called the rumour "despicable" and added that it initially upset people who love him.

"Dave's manager here. We've been alerted to a despicable post that has circulated overnight saying he has died," she wrote on Thursday.

"It has caused initial alarm to those who love him and has received countless shares from concerned fans. Please know that Dave is very much alive and well," she added.

Fans were relieved to see the post, with some admitting they had seen the fake news circulating online.

"Thank you, saw post earlier, (filthy advertisers) checked news immediately and relieved to see Dave is still in our slice of heaven," one person commented.

"What the f**k ,gave me a bloody fright, but then realised 'why isn't on the news', boy oh boy heaven is not ready for you," another fan replied.

A Facebook user in the thread reported seeing a scam involving Sir Dave Dobbyn's name on Facebook Marketplace.

"There's a marketplace scammer advertising his death, then goes on to talking about a Ferrari recently bought blah blah blah with money he'd invested in some shonky scheme that the marketplace add is luring people into," that person explained.