Gareth Baber has described a fake news report about him being killed in a car crash as “sickening” and “horrible”.
The story, which was posted on the glonews360.com website, claimed the Fiji Sevens coach had been one of two people to die in a crash on New Zealand’s south island.
This is not the first time the Fiji Sevens have been targetted with Ben Ryan wrongly being accused of being arrested with two kg of cocaine at Heathrow airport.
England flanker James Haskell was also targetted with a fake news report last year when he was been forced to deny rumours he died of a drug overdose
The body-building Wasps flanker posted a video after sick stories circulated that he had been killed by a steroid binge.
Thankfully Barber is very much alive and spoke to Wales Online.
“It isn’t very nice at all to read that you have died,” said Baber.
“It’s pretty upsetting to be honest. It’s just horrible.
“It is mind boggling why someone would do this. I don’t understand it.
“When you are away from family and travelling the world, you don’t want people to hear that kind of thing.
“If a member of your family were to see it, it would be a terrible shock.
“I first saw it about a month ago on a fake news site. It said I had died in a car crash in New Zealand.
“I contacted my mum and the rest of my family to let them know I was fine.
“I haven’t spoken to them yet about this one,
“But thankfully they know I am not in New Zealand.
“I was in Dubai for the Sevens over the weekend and now I’m in Cape Town.”
Rhe details in the fake story are actually based on a genuine report of a fatal road traffic accident in New Zealand from July of this year.
The location is the same and the name of the person who is supposed to have died along with Baber is actually that of one of the people who was killed in the real event.