HUNGARIAN police yesterday said they have busted a network of “fake news” websites that reported alleged coronavirus-related deaths in the country, which is so far free of infections.

A man and a woman are suspected of “operating dozens of fake news portals and linked Facebook pages” claiming that several people have been infected and died from the virus, said a statement on police’s website.

The sites, whose articles carried sensational headlines, were aimed at increasing traffic and boosting advertisement revenue, said the force.

“A 37-year-old Hungarian woman has collapsed and died in Budapest, probably from coronavirus,” read a headline from one of the sites displayed by police.

Computer equipment was seized at several locations in raids on Friday, said the statement.

The virus, first detected in the Chinese city of Wuhan last December, has killed at least 800 people in China and infected tens of thousands more. – AFP, February 9, 2020.