Woe betide the person who started this latest celebrity death hoax if Clint ever gets his hands on them.

Faster than a speeding tweet, reports of film icon Clint Eastwood's death have circled the globe in less time than it takes to say, "Go ahead. Make my day".

And almost as quickly, those Eastwood fans clued up enough not to be fooled by what was obviously a hoax took to social media to express their disgust and disdain.

"Whoever started the Clint Eastwood death hoax should be punished to death," said @Jordan16Bailey.

SUPPLIED Clint Eastwood with actress Hilary Swank in the 2004 film Million Dollar Baby.

Whoever started the Clint Eastwood death hoax should be punished to death — jordan bailey (@Jordan16Bailey) June 20, 2017

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Meanwhile @ithinkibrokeit offered perhaps the most conclusive proof that the 87-year-old filmmaker was still alive, saying, "Everyone knows Death is too afraid to claim Clint".

Silly people are falling for a hoax claiming Clint Eastwood has died. Everyone knows Death is too afraid to claim Clint. — Derik Moore (@ithinkibrokeit) June 21, 2017

Others, initially taken in by the hoax, were dismayed at the lengths the perpetrators went to. "Who pens a fake story for a supposedly real news site, with fake celebrity memorial Tweets?" bemoaned @MrMikeDevlin.

Apparently I fell for this Clint Eastwood hoax. Who pens a fake story for a supposedly real news site, with fake celebrity memorial Tweets? — Mike Devlin (@MrMikeDevlin) June 20, 2017

While it's not known for certain where the hoax started, the website www.cnn-globalnews.com is a possible contender, having posted the story Mike Devlin was probably taken in by.

"Upon entering the residence, police found Eastwood's deceased body in his bed," the story read, not entirely convincingly. It also included a fake tweet from actor Tom Hanks, which read: "I am lost for words. Some people you just assume will be with you forever."

As for how Eastwood himself might react to the whole thing we can only imagine. This quote from his 1992 hit Unforgiven could cover it though:

"It's a hell of a thing, killin' a man. You take away everything he's got, and all he's ever gonna have."

And if he ever crosses paths with whoever started this hoax in the first place, let's hope he falls back on this line from 2008's Gran Torino:

"Ever notice how you come across somebody once in a while you shouldn't have messed with? That's me."

Clint Eastwood, reacting to his latest death hoax. pic.twitter.com/jxO9OJXdfm — 🍕Sexy Ben🍕 (@browland1) June 20, 2017

Long live Clint.