You’ve probably seen the post all over your Facebook newsfeed.
It reads simply: “Would this just save the day!
“THANK YOU, MARK ZUCKERBERG, for your forward-thinking generosity! And congrats on becoming a dad!
“Mark Zuckerberg has announced that he is giving away $45 billion of Facebook stock. What you may not have heard is that he plans to give 10% of it away to people like YOU and ME! All you have to do is copy and paste this message into a post IMMEDIATELY. At midnight PST, Facebook will search through the day's posts and award 1000 people with $4.5 million EACH as a way of saying thank you for making Facebook such a powerful vehicle for connection and philanthropy.
“I hope someone I know gets a piece of the pie - let me know if you do!!!”
But is there any truth to the claim? And will changing our status REALLY put us in the running for the money?
Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, recently announced that he will be giving away 99% of his Facebook shares - worth around $45 billion - in honour of the birth of his and wife Priscilla Chan’s daughter, Max.
Unfortunately for everyone on Facebook, however, he’s not giving a penny of it to random Facebook users.
Yup… that post has since been confirmed to be a hoax.
Bummer.
Full of joy with little Max. > >
Posted by [Mark Zuckerberg](https://www.facebook.com/zuck) on [Tuesday, December 8, 2015](https://www.facebook.com/zuck/posts/10102515547429581)
Don’t worry too much if you have already shared the status on your own Facebook newsfeed - there’s no virus or hidden malware software attached to it.
The only thing you’re set to experience is a hefty dose of reality… and maybe a dash of embarrassment for falling for the trick, too.
Never mind, eh? It didn’t hurt to give it a try!