Scammers and fraudsters think nothing of scraping the barrel of bad taste, if they believe it will help them earn a few dollars.
Take the latest scam spreading on Facebook, for instance, which claims that Formula 1 racing driving star Michael Schumacher has died.
{R.I.P } F1 Star Michael Schumacher dead after come out from COMA few seconds agomiss you champ!
In case you're not aware, almost six months ago the motor racing legend suffered a severe head injury in a skiing accident, which saw him - until very recently - placed in a medically induced coma.
Now, scammers are saying he has died.
And, sadly, ghoulish Facebook users are helping for the scam to spread - by clicking on the link.
If you are one of those people who clicks on the link, you will be taken to a third-party webpage like this.
You might think that it's just a case of clicking on the video thumbnail to watch a news report of Michael Schumacher's death, but you would be wrong.
Because if you do click onwards, you are told that you need to share the link with your Facebook friends to watch the video.
At this point alarm bells should be ringing left, right and centre. Why would you have to share a link to a video *before* you see it? If this was a genuine news report, wouldn't you simply be able to watch it?
And how come there is no word of Schumacher's alleged death on any legitimate news outlets?
The truth is that cold-hearted scammers are trying to drive traffic to the webpage, because if you do share it with your friends you are helping them generate traffic to their site. And the more people who attempt to watch the video, the more money they will make.
Oh, and by the way, as Schumacher hasn't died - you're not going to see a news report claiming that he has. Instead, you will be taken to a webpage which pays a small amount of affiliate cash to the scammers, helping to fill their coffers.
If you made the mistake of clicking on a link like this, make sure that you did not share it with your friends and delete any strange posts from your Facebook newsfeed. Remember to warn your online friends to be wary of similar scams, and to always think twice before sharing links.
The latest genuine news about Michael Schumacher is that some low-life has offered his private medical records for sale.
You would imagine that Schumacher's friends and family have suffered enough, without scammers, fraudsters and thieves attempting to profit from his critical condition.
