In a whirlwind of false identifications, Edward Crabtree, a 43-year-old IT professional, was mistakenly named as a hero within just a few hours.

TheDaily, a news site with no ties to The Daily Aus, conducted an interview with Crabtree regarding his alleged heroic actions on that fateful day.

“I didn’t think about it. I just acted,” Crabtree recounted in the interview.

He elaborated, “I saw people running, I heard the shots, and I saw him reloading. I knew if someone didn’t do something right then, more people were going to die.”

The narrative quickly captured global attention, with individuals worldwide lauding Crabtree’s supposed bravery.

But Crabtree doesn’t exist, and from what it seems, neither does the journalist who wrote the story.

The entire website, including the article, appears to be AI-generated.

The article has the veneer of legitimate news, but there are glaring errors.

The website links to other purported stories which do not work.

In spite of this, X chatbot Grok cited the article when naming Crabtree as the Bondi hero.

When Grok was told the real name of the hero, Ahmed el Ahmed, it corrected the user and insisted Crabtree was the name.

Grok later blamed the mistake on a “reporting error or a joke referencing a fictional character”.

Ahmed snatched a shotgun from the hands of one of the gunmen before he was himself shot.

He is now recovering in hospital.

“He’s not well at all. He’s riddled with bullets. Our hero is struggling at the moment.”

Ahmed is a tobacco shop owner and the father of two girls.

Since the video of his heroic act went around the world, more than $1.6 million has been donated to him.