What was claimed

Police and family members have revealed details relating to the deaths of a backpacker and shark attack victim.

Our verdict

False. The quotes attributed to the parties are fake.

Engagement bait pages on Facebook are exploiting the tragic deaths of a Canadian backpacker at a Queensland beach and a boy after a horror Sydney shark attack.

The pages are sharing fake news about the two tragedies to encourage users to visit external websites.

Canadian Piper James, 19, was found dead on a beach on K’gari (formerly Fraser Island) surrounded by a pack of dingoes on January 19.

“THE POOR YOUNG GIRL PASSED AWAY IN EXCRUCIATING PAIN,” says one Facebook post that claims police have released details about James’ death.

Another post claims “NO ONE HEARD HER SCREAM” and police had encountered a “cri:me (sic) scene” and “a sight they say will stay with them forever”.

However, none of the comments attributed to police have been reported by credible news media outlets.

Nor has the Queensland coroner ruled on the cause of James’ death.

One of the images is taken from a video filmed in 2024. Image. AAP

A preliminary autopsy revealed physical evidence consistent with drowning, while there was also evidence she received non-fatal dingo bites while she was still alive.

There were also extensive dingo bite marks on her body after she died.

The coroner is awaiting pathology results to further assist in determining how James died. They are expected to take several weeks.

The state government has killed six dingos found near her body and is expected to kill more, the ABC reported.

One post also features a photo of a woman in a bikini being bitten by a dingo. However, it’s actually a screenshot from a video of a 2024 dingo attack on a French tourist published by ABC News.

The tourist described that as “just a little nip”.

Some of the posts related to James have since been flagged as “false information” and deleted by Meta.

But one of the same pages has also shared several posts about a boy who suffered horrific injuries in a shark attack in Sydney Harbour on January 18.

Nico Antic, 12, had been jumping on the water from rocks at Vaucluse Point when he was attacked. He was pulled from the water by his friends, whose actions were described by police as heroic.

It was the first of four shark bites within three days in NSW, triggering widespread community concern and beach closures.

Nico sustained critical injuries to his legs and died in hospital on January 24.

One post features images that have nothing to do with the attack on the boy at Vaucluse. It includes a dead shark that washed up on a beach in New York state in 2022 and a photo of a young survivor of a 2001 shark attack in Florida.

Many of the posts include multiple images that are unrelated to the incident. Image: AAP

There’s also a screenshot of a shark breaching while holding a person in its mouth, which appears to be a screengrab from a scene in the 1987 movie Jaws: The Revenge.

The Facebook page has continued pushing misleading claims after Nico’s death.

One post falsely claimed that the 12-year-old’s family had revealed his “final words”, while another shared a purported emotional tribute from his mother.

The page is one of a number of disinformation accounts that are run out of Vietnam. Image: AAP

However, neither of the reported comments in these posts matches the words in the Antic family’s statement reported by Sky News.

Some of the posts about Nico have also been flagged and deleted.

AAP FactCheck has previously reported that such Facebook pages are engagement-bait operations that publish false claims to drive traffic to websites often laden with scams, ads and viruses.

-AAP