The internet, impressionable teenagers and malicious online ne'er-do-wells combined for a potentially tragic hoax on Friday, in which Justin Bieber's loyal fans were supposedly duped into shaving their head in support of Bieber having cancer.

Of course, it's not true. At first glance, the image that circulated around social networking sites looks convincing.

Members of the infamous imageboard site 4chan had edited the picture together, fabricating what looked like a breaking news announcement from Entertainment Weekly, and an admission from Bieber himself.

justin bieber hoax
This picture was making the rounds on sites such as Twitter


And so, the hashtag #baldforbieber was born. However, according to Mashable and one Reddit user who claims to have been in on the project, no one seems to have fallen for it, fortunately.

Reddit user ErroneousDylan wrote:

This is actually not true at all. I was there when we started this s**t. Somebody made a few twitter accounts, we edited Wikipedia, we spammed chat rooms, and we even posted here on Reddit (but it was deleted for lack of evidence). Somebody made a few fake news posts too which were convincing but without a link it wasn't enough.

The girls you are seeing are actually sisters/girlfriends of a few /b/tards that did this to try and convince other girls to do it. I'm trying to find one of the YouTube videos of some dude's sister fake crying but I can't seem to find it at the moment.

There doesn't appear to be any evidence that anyone fell for the prank, despite Twitter pages, Facebook pages and even a website, BaldForBieber.com.

SEE ALSO: 'Justin Bieber Stole My Credit Card To Pay For A Penis Enlargement'
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  • Musicians Usher, left, and Justin Bieber arrive at the 22nd Annual Kids' Choice Awards on Saturday, March 28, 2009, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

  • Musicians Usher, left, and Justin Bieber arrive at the 22nd Annual Kids' Choice Awards on Saturday, March 28, 2009, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

  • Justin Bieber performs at the Pepsi Superbowl Fan Jam Concert in Miami Beach, Florida.

  • Teen pop sensation Justin Bieber performs with Drake at the Juno Awards Sunday, April 18, 2009

  • Canadian singer Justin Bieber performs live in concert during the NRJ showcase on the 1st floor of the Eilffel Tower in Paris, France

  • Paris Jackson and Justin Bieber during a ceremony honoring the late Michael Jackson with Hand and Footprints in Cement, held at Grauman's Chinese Theatre, on January 26, 2012, in Los Angeles.

  • Canadian singer Justin Bieber performs live during a showcase at the Universale Headquaters in Paris, France.

  • Justin Bieber arrives at the Grammy Awards on Sunday, Jan. 31, 2010, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

  • Justin Bieber poses for photographs before a personal appearance at HMV in Westfield, west London. Over 1,500 fans turned up to try and meet the singer.

  • Justin Bieber performs live on stage at the Hard Rock Cafe in Las Vegas.

  • Canadian singer-songwriter Justin Bieber visits LIVE@Much in Toronto on Monday, Oct. 5, 2009. The Canadian Press Images/Christian Lapid

  • Justin Bieber and his girlfriend Selena Gomez

  • Justin Bieber with one of his idols, Sean Kingston

  • Justin Bieber with one of his many lady-friends, Kim Kardashian

  • Bieber fever

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  • L-R: Smokey Robinson, Prince Michael Jackson Jr., Prince Michael Jackson II aka Blanket, Paris Jackson and Justin Bieber during the Michael Jackson Hand and Footprint Ceremony with the children of Michael Jackson making the impressions using shoes and sequined glove once worn by Michael Jackson, held at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood, California on January 26, 2012.

  • Canadian singer Justin Bieber arrives at the Cannes festival palace, to take part in the NRJ Music awards ceremony, in Cannes, southeastern France, Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012. (AP Photo/Lionel Cironneau)