YouTuber declares himself 'legally dead' to get refund from airline and it’s sparked a huge debate

A British social media star has been dragged online for registering himself as 'legally dead' in a bid to receive a refund for a flight he missed.

Comedian Max Fosh, 30, recorded the stunt and uploaded his controversial content to YouTube earlier this week.

He'd failed to turn up to the airport for a commercial flight he'd booked from a London airport before allegedly faking his own tragic passing to receive a full refund from the airline.

Fosh has since racked up a staggering two million plus views, in which he explained that the whole endeavour was spurred by the travel firm initially declining his request to cancel the booking.

The rejection prompted the star to take a closer look at the travel firms T&Cs, which confirmed that, only in cases where a passenger has died, are they/their family entitled to their money back.

The YouTuber had attempted to cancel the flight (Getty Stock Image)

Inspired, Fosh also realised that the airline hadn't specified which country said death certificate had to come from, and he reached out to the 'press offices of major governments' from tons of countries, as per his YouTube account.

Eventually, Seborga - a small village and self-proclaimed principality in Liguria near the French border, and a commune of the Italian province of Imperia - got back to him.

Fosh explained in his hotly-debated online upload: "The town operates as an independent nation with its own flag, currency and government.

"[They said that] due to these very unique circumstances they are happy to sign a document that says according to them technically I am dead."

After arriving in the town, he met with the Princess of Seborga, Nina Menegatto who signed the death certificate following a short tour.

"Thankfully my fight with a big airline seemed to resonate with the princess and Seborga's fight for independence, so she kindly agreed to sign a special one-off death certificate," the prankster continued.

Nina Menegatto, the Princess of Seborga, signed the death certificate (MARCO BERTORELLO/AFP via Getty Images)

He then faked a funeral for himself - having hired three fake mourners - before applying to the airline for a refund and sending the firm his falsified death certificate.

"It worked," he revealed in his new vid. "I got an email from the airline [five days later] in which they agreed to continue my application for a refund and asked for my bank details."

Naturally, the extent to which Fosh went to for his refund hasn't gone down too well with a number of social media critics, a number of whom have taken aim at him online.

"Dude is so petty that he booked another flight in order to get a refund for a flight," one hit out in the comments to his clip.

Another wrote: "Imagine an airway starting a lawsuit against a guy who managed to get his money back by delivering papers of him dying signed by a princess of an independently state in Italy? The whole court room is going to be so confused."

The social media star held a fake funeral (Getty Stock Image)

Adding of the fake funeral, a third wrote: "I was scared for a second don't do that to me."

Despite being offered his refund, Fosh later declined the money after speaking to his lawyer, who informed him 'it's not fraud but it is fraudulent'.

"He basically told me off and said I mustn't claim the money," he told his subscribers. "So that is where I'm going to leave this. Please do not do this yourself at home."