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.
AAP FACTCHECK - The deaths of a Canadian backpacker at a beach and a boy after a shark attack are being exploited by engagement bait pages on Facebook.
The pages are sharing fake news about the two tragedies to encourage users to visit external websites.
Canadian, Piper James, was found dead on a beach on K'gari (Fraser Island) surrounded by a pack of dingoes on January 19, 2026.
One Facebook post claims police had released details about the case, including that: "THE POOR YOUNG GIRL PASSED AWAY IN EXCRUCIATING PAIN".
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.
The Queensland coroner hasn't ruled on the cause of death.
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, according to an AAP report.
There were also extensive dingo bite marks on her body after she died.
The coroner is awaiting pathology results to further assist in determining the cause of death, which is 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, but 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".
The Facebook page also shared several posts about a boy badly wounded in a shark attack in Sydney Harbour on January 18, 2026.
Nico Antic, 12, died in hospital on January 24, AAP reported.
One post features images that have nothing to do with the incident, including 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.
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 his family had revealed his "final words", while another post shared a purported emotional tribute by his mother.
However, neither of the reported comments in these posts matches the words in the Antic family's statement reported by Sky News.
AAP FactCheck 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.
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