A cunning move by a Facebook user has sparked mass panic among thousands of readers who believed that a shark has once again been spotted close to the Grand Harbour breakwater.

A news item from timesofmalta.com called 'Shark spotted off breakwater', dated September 2, 2015, was posted on Facebook yesterday, confusing users into believing it was actually reported yesterday.

The page was viewed some 38,000 times on timesofmalta.com yesterday with thousands of others more throughout today. It was shared dozens of times on Facebook. 

A reader had told Times of Malta last year that he was on his boat less than a mile off the breakwater when he spotted what he believed to be a shark less than two metres swimming from his boat. The fish was about two metres in length.

The prank is not uncommon on social media, since many users do not bother to check the dates, or even the credibility of the source, before sharing content on Facebook. 

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