#MH370: Missing flight mystery brings out worst in people

Yahoo Newsroom

11 March 2014 at 10:11 am

Missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 has brought hoaxers, jokers and opportunists crawling out of the woodwork.

The mystery of the missing plane has gripped the world since the flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing went missing early Saturday. Search and rescue teams are on a desperate race against time as they try to find the 239 souls on the flight while a transfixed world has flooded cyberspace with messages of support, prayers and desperate wishes for the vanished passengers' lives and safety.

But, there are those who seem to think this is the ideal opportunity to joke, create and spread false rumours and, worst of all, try to make a quick buck.

On March 9, an eBay user called 'chypriotte' tried to flog the www.mh370.com domain name on the popular online auction site.

According to the BBC, the seller's 'sales pitch' was as follows: "Buy this domain today and sell it later on for thousands of dollars...Dozens of companies, families of victims, will want to buy it from you. Pay little money today and make huge profit tomorrow."

The asking price? A cool USD5000. Unfortunately for 'chypriotte', the distateful attempt was met with a furious reaction in cyberspace, resulting in the offer being yanked off eBay before any sale could occur.

Meanwhile, local portal Malaysian Digest carried a story called, 'This is another Sick HOAX', based on the pictures below.

According to the portal, the picture at the bottom, is being widely circulated in social media along with various rumours, including one of a stewardess contacting her husband to tell him the passengers are being held hostage.

The image is a doctored photo, with a BBC News crest superimposed, of a security exercise carried out in Macau last July. Details can be found on a Macau government website here.

And last but certainly not least, there are those who are taking the MH370 case as a cue for inappropriate jokes as well as an opportunity to take potshots against the authorities and Malaysia Airlines.

One example is below:

For the record, it was the bomoh himself who alleged that he was at KLIA at the request of 'a national leader'. Full story here.

There are many more examples of inappropriate humour such as the one above circulating on the Internet, most of them drawing withering criticism and furious reactions from Netizens.