Fake identities and reports are swirling around the Las Vegas massacre.

One man has been falsely accused of being at the centre of the attack, despite the fact that police have now named Stephen Paddock as the perpetrator of the worst mass shooting in US history.

The false naming appears partly to be an effort to spread misinformation , propelled by the rush to find out new information. Some of the people spreading the false reports appear to be doing so with a political intent.

Las Vegas shooting – in pictures Show all 15 1 /15 Las Vegas shooting – in pictures Las Vegas shooting – in pictures People scramble for shelter at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after gun fire was heard Getty Las Vegas shooting – in pictures People carry a person at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after shots were fired David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting – in pictures People run from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after gun fire was heard David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting – in pictures A handout photo released via Twitter by Eiki Hrafnsson (@EirikurH) showing concertgoers running away from the scene (C) after shots range out at the Route 91 Harvest festival on Las Vegas Boulevard EPA/Eiki Hrafnsson Las Vegas shooting – in pictures People lie on the ground at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after hearing gun fire Getty Las Vegas shooting – in pictures A man in a wheelchair is taken away from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after hearing gun fire David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting – in pictures People stand on the street outside the Mandalay Bay hotel near the scene of the Route 91 Harvest festival on Las Vegas Boulevard EPA/Paul Buck Las Vegas shooting – in pictures FBI agents confer in front of the Tropicana hotel-casino after a mass shooting during a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip Reuters/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus Las Vegas shooting – in pictures Las Vegas police run by a banner on the fence at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival grounds after shots were fired David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting – in pictures An injured person is tended to in the intersection of Tropicana Ave. and Las Vegas Boulevard after a mass shooting at a country music festival Ethan Miller/Getty Las Vegas shooting – in pictures Metro Police officers pass by the front of the Tropicana hotel-casino after a mass shooting at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip Reuters/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus Las Vegas shooting – in pictures A woman sits on a curb at the scene of a shooting outside of a music festival along the Las Vegas Strip AP/John Locher Las Vegas shooting – in pictures A cowboy hat lays in the street after shots were fired near a country music festival in Las Vegas Getty Las Vegas shooting – in pictures Las Vegas Metro Police and medical workers stage in the intersection of Tropicana Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard South after a mass shooting at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip Reuters/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus Las Vegas shooting – in pictures Sheriff Joe Lombardo (2-R) speaking during a press briefing in the aftermath of the active shooter incident on Las Vegas Boulevard EPA

In the hours after the attack, amid a rush to find the latest news, a number of social media users named Geary Danley as the shooter. That was apparently because of a connection to Marilou Danley, the woman that police were searching for in the hours after the attack and have now allowed to go free.

But police confirmed that the man at the centre of the attack was Stephen Paddock, a 64-year-old man from Nevada. He is now dead, and authorities believe he committed suicide.

That did not stop people before and after the identity was revealed associating Mr Danley with the attack. Although some of the attempts to associate it with him appear to be genuine mistakes, others are intentional efforts to link his politics with the massacre.

People on social media attempting to find the identity of the attacker found Mr Danley's profile page, and with it the fact that he had liked a set of left-wing and liberal social media pages. He was a member of groups including "Thank You Obama" and a whole host of pages devoted to opposing Donald Trump, for instance.

He is also a registered Democrat and appears to have given his support to progressive causes.