A fake social media post claiming Richmond forward Tom Lynch has terminal brain cancer has been used to lure AFL fans towards a phishing website, prompting the club to warn that the report is entirely false.
The post appeared on a Facebook page called Tigers Dynasty and was presented as a distressing news report about the 33-year-old footballer being diagnosed with stage four glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer.
It was accompanied by a video purporting to show Lynch speaking to television reporters at Adelaide Oval. The material appeared convincing enough to prompt fans to post messages of grief and support.
But the link promising further details directed users to a fraudulent website designed to harvest personal information. Such data can be used to target victims’ online banking, credit cards, passwords and other accounts.
Richmond Football Club confirmed that the claim about Lynch was untrue. A club source described the incident as “troubling” and said the problem was persistent, with new websites appearing even after others had been shut down.
The timing of the hoax was particularly cruel, coming just days before Lynch and his wife, Olivia, are due to welcome their first child.
The same Facebook page has published a series of other fabricated stories involving Richmond figures. One falsely claimed former Tigers player Alex Rance had died in a plane crash in Miami, using genuine photographs of an aircraft accident in Florida.
Neither Rance nor his former wife, Georgia, who also appeared in the images, was involved in the incident. The couple separated in 2019.
The page also shared a fabricated report claiming that the teenage son of a Richmond “legend” had died after suffering a cardiac arrest during football practice. It used an AI-generated image of a boy and directed readers to another suspicious link.
The story appears to have been adapted from the genuine death of 13-year-old Caden Sorrell in North Carolina on 28 August, rather than relating to anyone connected with Richmond.
Near-identical versions of the false claim have also appeared on pages posing as supporter groups for other Australian sports teams, including the Collingwood Magpies, Sydney Swans and Wests Tigers.
How the AFL phishing scam works
Scamwatch warns that criminals increasingly use fake profiles, fabricated news stories and AI-generated videos to impersonate public figures and trusted organisations. The agency says scammers exploit impersonation, urgency and emotion to persuade people to click or surrender personal details. ([scamwatch.gov.au](https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/stop-check-protect/help-to-spot-and-avoid-scams/how-scammers-use-technology-and-ai?utm_source=openai))
It advises users not to follow links in unexpected social media posts and to enter the address of an organisation’s genuine website directly into a browser instead. Anyone who believes they have handed over sensitive information should contact their bank immediately, change affected passwords and report the incident.
