The verified Twitter account of the National Football League was hacked on Tuesday and CNBC took the bait, announcing that commissioner Roger Goodell had died.
The NFL’s account sent a message stating, “We regret to inform our fans that our commissioner, Roger Goodell, has passed away. He was 57. #RIP.”
CNBC was all over it, running a breaking news banner on air three minutes later that Goodell passed away. Two minutes after that, the banner changed, now stating the NFL had deleted the tweet but nobody immediately mentioned it on air.
A few minutes after the banner changed, anchor Sue Herera broke into coverage to say the network confirmed from that it was a hack.
Meanwhile, NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy confirmed the account was hacked and that Goodell is “alive and well.”
The hacker also sent messages that read, “Oi, I said Rger Goodell has died. Don’t delete that tweet” and “OK, OK you amateur detectives win. Good job.”
The NFL has deleted all three tweets sent by the hacker.