This is what fact checkers call a "prebunk."
A prebunk is like a debunk (another word for fact check), only it's an advance notice of an anticipated false claim. This article is intended to inoculate you from future outbreaks of a specific type of false claims about your favorite entertainment celebrities, sports stars, and politicians. We call this "Viet Spam" because the accounts spamming these are almost always managed from Vietnam, disguised as authentic local news. Artificial intelligence tools produce a constant flow of emotional fiction targeting the Facebook timelines of American and European fans. While this content -- which is also known as "AI slop" -- may not get viral levels of traffic, the ad income generated by thousands of AI-generated articles can be significant.
It's been spreading at epidemic-level speed in the months since Meta fired its American fact checkers (including Lead Stories) in early 2025, but we are still on the case. We have published more than 50 debunks (archived here) in recent months, targeting hundreds of these fake posts. Here, we share what we've learned about how to spot the symptoms and diagnose Viet Spam.
A Monkee's Tale
Let's start with the troubles of 80-year-old Micky Dolenz, the lone surviving member of the 1960s pop group The Monkees.
On June 15, 2025, the Country Roots Revival Facebook page announced "SHOCKING NEWS" about Dolenz. "35 Minutes Ago in Los Angeles, California, USA," the post (archived here) read, his wife announced Dolenz "has been rushed to the hospital after suffering a terrifying fall at his Los Angeles home.
(Image source: Lead Stories screenshot of Facebook)
Four days later, on June 19, 2025, the same Facebook page shared more "BREAKING NEWS" about Dolenz. "Just 18 minutes ago," the post (archived here) read, his daughter "shared devastating news that has rocked the music world." The musician "collapsed suddenly on stage during a live performance in Los Angeles and was rushed to the hospital."
(Image source: Lead Stories screenshot of Facebook)
On July 8, 2025 - just 19 days after Micky's latest purported brush with death - the same Country Roots Revival page posted (archived here) more "BREAKING NEWS" that his wife had another tearful announcement. "27 Minutes Ago in Los Angeles, California, USA -- Donna Quinter, in Tears, Reveals That 80-Year-Old Micky Dolenz Was Rushed to the Hospital After a Tragic Accident Following His Visit to Texas Flood Victims."
But this was where a fact checker (this writer) coincidentally crossed paths with Dolenz. We were sitting near each other at a Calabasas, California, restaurant when the rock star was purportedly fighting for life in a Texas hospital. Dolenz was kind enough to fist bump his longtime fan and pose for a selfie.
There were no indications that he had recently suffered through a "terrifying fall" in his home, a sudden collapse on stage, or another tragic accident helping flood victims a thousand miles away hours earlier.
Dolenz was suffering from Viet Spam, but he found an antidote. He posted a video (archived here) message to his fans on his real Facebook fan page.
Dolenz message to fans:
Yes, it's really me - and I'm just fine! 😎
Lately there's been a strange wave of fake, AI-generated stories about me floating around online. So if you see one, report it to Meta and help spread the word that I'm alive, well, and still Monkeeing around.
I've been spending my summer getting some sunshine by the pool, tinkering in the garage, hitting the gym (sun's out, guns out!), and getting ready to kick off my Songs & Stories tour again next month.
So don't believe the clickbait. Believe the guy with the toolbox, the tour dates & the dumbbells.
This hasn't stopped the Vietnamese spammers from targeting Dolenz fans. As recently as October 29, 2025 - a day before this writing - another fake fan page managed from Vietnam posted (archived here) more "SAD NEWS" about him:
Micky Dolenz Involved in Devastating Multi-Car Highway Crash in Mississippi on His Way to Meet Fans -- Pulled From the Wreckage with Serious Injuries but Still Conscious, His First Words Shock Rescuers: 'Is Everyone Else Okay?'
(Image source: Lead Stories screenshot of Facebook)
This time it was the Daydream Beat Facebook page, which we found to be associated with the Vietnam-based Country Roots Revival page.
The Motive Is Money
Getting Facebook users to click on a post can be financially rewarding. Each of the fake Dolenz posts included a link to a website that carried ads, The publisher is paid every time you click.
If you were curious enough to want to know more about Micky's Mississippi car crash, you might click on that blue link.
(Image source: Lead Stories screenshot of Facebook)
You wouldn't actually go to a website named vitalzen.biz. It would direct you to feji.io and this story (archived here):
(Image source: Lead Stories screenshot of feji.io)
The Micky Dolenz false stories are just a tiny portion of what the Vietnamese-based operation is producing and placing on Facebook timelines around the world.
The list of celebrity targets in recent months include entertainers Dick Van Dyke, Adam Sandler, Johnny Depp, Sharon Osbourne, Bad Bunny, Brandon Lake, Kid Rock, Blake Shelton, Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, Pink, James Hetfield (Metallica), Luke Bryan, Eminem, Dolly Parton, Adam Lambert, Elton John, Barry Gibb, Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Vince Gill, Paul McCartney, Patti LaBelle, George Strait, Stephen Colbert, Reba McEntire, Alan Jackson, Jelly Roll, and Ringo Starr; sports figures Saquon Barkley, Sam Pittman, Cade Klubnik, Marc Marquez, Brian Snitker, Travis Kelce, Mookie Betts, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Brittney Griner; political figures Elon Musk, Mike Johnson, Rachel Maddow, Donald Trump, Pete Hegseth, Ivanka Trump, Jasmine Crockett, Charlie Kirk, Pam Bondi, and Karoline Leavitt.
The spammers typically prompt their AI-generators to create fictional stories that connect a long list of celebrities to a major controversy on social media. This results in dozens of nearly identical stories with celebrities names attached to identical quotes or actions.
The September 10, 2025, killing of Charlie Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA (archived here), is a prime example. Lead Stories published a fact check article on September 13, 2025, addressing the claim that singers Dolly Parton, Adam Lambert, Elton John, Barry Gibb, Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Vince Gill, sports figures Sam Pittman, Cade Klubnik, or Marc Marquez honored Charlie Kirk by calling for a moment of silence or by attending his funeral.
(Source: Lead Stories screenshots of various articles.)
These articles were all promoted by Facebook pages that targeted fans of the singers Elton John and college football teams.
(Source: Lead Stories screenshots of Facebook)
Each of these Facebook pages also have in common that they are administered from Southeast Asia, mostly from Vietnam, based on Meta transparency data.
(Source: Lead Stories screenshots of Facebook)
Spotting the Slop
These articles and posts follow a familiar pattern. Here are several red flags that indicate a post was created using artificial intelligence tools:
- Manufactured Quotes: The quotes attributed to the celebrity don't match their typical speaking style and sound overly formal/dramatic.
- Generic Emotional Language: Phrases like "captured the hearts of millions" and "cultural beacon of love and unity" are typical of AI-generated emotional content.
- No Media Coverage: A major announcement or incident would be covered extensively by entertainment media outlets like CMT, Rolling Stone Country, or major news networks.
- Vague Details: References to "a community event" and "recently" without specifics are red flags for fabricated content.
- Anonymous Social Media Claims: Claims about fan reactions and social media spread without verification.
- Duplicate Claims: An online search of a quote, or a fragment of a quote, on Google or Bing could reveal if the same claim is duplicated using other names.
.Another important step is a check of the transparency data that Meta provides on most Facebook fan pages. It will show the history of the page, which tells you when it was created and if the name has been changed. Many of the pages used to spread this spam are nearly new, created in the previous weeks. Some of the older pages have been renamed from something unrelated to the topic it now claims to cover. These are red flags.
This will also reveal the countries from where the pages are managed.
While a legitimate fan page could be administered from anywhere in the world, the country of Vietnam is the common factor that connects most of these fake celebrity posts.
This is not just an American problem. The Netherlands fact-checking organization Nieuwscheckers published an investigation (archived here) titled "Vietnamese pulp producers profit from mass-circulation of crime, sports and soap operas via Facebook." They tracked the massive junk news operation to Hanoi.
The Spanish fact-checking organization Maldita.es published its investigation (archived here) in July 2025, that concluded Vietnam was the most frequent producer of fraudulent Facebook pages that impersonated public transportation services in 746 cities and regions around the world.
Lead Stories teamed with Nieuwscheckers (archived here) in an investigation (archived here) that uncovered a Macedonian fake news network in January 2019
Facebook users can easily identify these types of accounts by accessing the transparency data.
(Image Source: Lead Stories screenshots of Facebook transparency reports.)
The epidemic of AI slop may not be subsiding anytime soon, but when you recognize it on your Facebook timeline, do your friends a favor. Call it out. Warn others. Share the knowledge.
