Who Killed Lady Gaga?

Latest celebrity death hoax spreading via Facebook that the Mother Monster was found dead in a hotel room

By Josh Grossberg Sep 20, 2011 3:37 PMTags
Lady Gaga, Dancing with the Stars Performances, DWTSABC

If you buy the Internet, the Fame Monster kills.

Given her massive fan base and because she seems to be everywhere these days, it's no surprise really that Lady Gaga is the latest celebrity to fall victim to a celebrity death hoax. An online scam claims she was found dead in a hotel room.

Beats falling off a cliff in New Zealand. Right, Jeff Goldblum?

MORE: Lady Gaga's Latest Look? 12-Inch Heels Decorated With Fan Portraits

According to security site Sophos, some enterprising cybercriminals have been spreading the following headline via Facebook: "BREAKING: Lady Gaga Found Dead in Hotel Room" along with a link to a BBC News story and a description reading "This is the most awful day in US history."

But for those whose curiosity (or anxiety) gets the better of them, what that link really does is trick Netizens into going to a fake BBC webpage that encourages them to click on a video about the "Poker Face" singer.

Instead of seeing the Gaga video, however, what the image actually does is contain instructions that automatically sends a "like" to people's Facebook pages, which in turn increases traffic to sites that the Facebook scammers earn a commission on based on the number of hits.

So fear not, Little Monsters, Mother Monster is alive and well, and in fact, she was spotted last night out at the New York Giants football game drinking some bubbly in a luxury skybox while supporting her home team against the St. Louis Rams.

A rep for Lady Gaga was unavailable for comment.