Filmmaker Costa-Gavras target of Twitter hoax

A fake Twitter account attributed to newly appointed Culture Minister Myrsini Zorba on Thursday incorrectly announced the death of France-based Greek filmmaker Costa-Gavras.

The news was picked up by major news networks before it was proven to be a fake account set up by Italian journalist Tommaso Debenedetti.

"A journalist called me and told me that I died," Gavras, 85, told Greece's ERT TV on Thursday.

For her part, Zorba said the hoax was a "macabre attack" against her. "The account that used my name was not my account," she said.

A known hoaxer, Debenedetti has published fake interviews with prominent public figures such as Desmond Tutu, John Grishman, Mikahil Gorbachev and the Dalai Lama.