The distress of the families of those missing after the Japanese earthquake and tsunami has been heightened by apparently false reports of their loved ones’ deaths.

Anxious friends and relatives have reported several incidents of “sick” messages wrongly informing them of a death.

Emma Hickebottom said her family assumed the worst when a message posted on a people-finder web page about her brother Brian Hickebottom said: “I have received information that this person is dead.”

It was accompanied by a sad face “emoticon”.

Much to the family’s relief, the information, posted by someone called Lucas A. on the Google person-finder facility, turned out to be wrong.

Ms Hickebottom, 28, from Cardiff, said: “We’d had a spam email saying he was dead and we were very distressed. I came home to be with my parents but luckily Brian and his family are safe and it was just some sick person (who said he was dead).”

The 34-year-old English teacher from Birmingham had survived by taking refuge in the school where he works, along with his wife Sanae, 37, and baby daughter Erin, aged five months.

There was also confusion over whether another foreigner, US marine Justan Browning, had survived the disaster after a message was posted on the same website reporting his death.

Private John Thorn wrote: “We were searching for survivors yesterday and while inside a damaged building it collapsed, I barely made it out. Sadly, he didn’t. I did everything I could, but he didn’t make it out alive.

“I’m sorry. You will be contacted soon by his CO with more information.”

But someone calling themselves “Canadian friend” later wrote a message on the web page for Mr Browning, who was stationed in Yamaguchi, saying: “I have seen several false reports that people are deceased. It is disgusting. Do not give up hope. Call your government to verify the above report.”

A spokesman for the missing persons bureau at the National Policing Improvement Agency said the openness of the internet made it very difficult to prevent false information being posted online in such circumstances.