In September, a page on the social networking site, Facebook had an outporing of condolences, until Freeman's spokersperson dismissed the rumour.

Union Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, who passed away last year, was 'bumped off' by a Mumbai newspaper even before he kicked the bucket. The paper uploaded a story on their website, stating that the minister had passed away. However hospital officials rebuffed the report, saying that Deshmukh was alive at the time and his condition was being keenly monitored.

In a major goof-up, Fox Sports declared Argentine footballer Lionel Messi dead on Twitter. The tweet mentioned that Messi died of cardio pulmonary arrest during a workout. Fox Sports immediately deleted the tweet but not before it sent shockwaves across cyberspace.

An ailing Shashi Kapoor must have been in for quite the shock when a series of rumours were floated about the veteran's actor death on microblogging site, Twitter. To top it all, one newspaper even 'confirmed' the rumour by putting out an official tweet about the 'news'. Hospital sources later quashed the story and the newspaper had to retract the tweet and apologise for the same

For a couple days following the Thalaivar's hospitalisation, Google was abuzz with rumours of Rajnikanth's death. The buzz grew so strong that the actor's wife Latha was forced to issue a statement that he was fine and asked fans to stop spreading tales

When APJ Abdul Kalam's advisor Dr Hafiz Saleh Muhammad Alladin died, mischief-mongers went to town declaring that the former president had passed away. Google and Twitter were abuzz and author Shobhaa De even left a tweet paying tribute to Kalam. She was forced to apologise for the same later. Photo: Getty Images

Comedian Bill Cosby's 'death' went viral on Twitter last year though Cosby was hardly amused. He tweeted, 'As you well know, a dead person cannot rebuttal. Therefore, I am rebuttaling to tell you that when I heard the news I immediately began rebuttaling and went into denial.' Photo: Getty Images

The 92-year-old former South African president was declared 'dead' on Twitter leading to a large outpouring of grief followed by angry reactions by the African National Congress who said that the site should take actions against those responsible for the tweets that were 'malicious and insensitive'. Photo: Getty Images

Rumours that the teenage sensation who was Twitter's darling for months, had committed suicide spread like crazy in 2009. However Justin later himself tweeted to reassure fans that he was alive, well and would soon be singing 'Baby' at a stadium near you. Photo: Getty Images

The seemingly invincible martial arts hero was finally vanquished by mischief mongers, albeit online. But Jackie was quick to put rumours to rest by not only posting a message denying his demise on his Facebook page but also uploading a picture taken after the rumours spread like wildfire. Photo: Getty Images

Hollywood's new favourite bad boy was the victim of rumours too though in this case, the prank wasn't entirely harmless. A virus posing as 'information' about Sheen's 'death' did the rounds on Facebook and Twitter. Photo: Getty Images

Actors and politicians aside, even the maker of video game Pokemon was not spared and rumours suggested that he had passed away during the tsunami that struck Japan earlier this year. The company spokesperson however firmly denied the same

Remember William Hung who was American Idol's unlikely singing sensation? In 2004, a news report surfaced that he had gone the way of many other 'rockstars' like him and had died of drug overdose. It soon turned out that it was the work of a spoof site. Oh well, we can still wish, can't we? Photo: Getty Images

On American Independence Day, a hacker got control of Fox News' Twitter account (@foxnewspolitics) and posted fake messages announcing president Barack Obama's death. Photo: Getty Images