A couple of months ago, my wife was starting a group of "etsy" ladies, one of the girls was like 23 with 2 kids and had just broken up with the father of the younger baby. She was a complete mess; totally MILF but definitely someone to keep at arm's length.
Wacko MILF was friends with one or two of my ex-coworkers. So, somewhere within her circles a rumour was started that I had a strained relationship with a coworker because I was sure I was her baby's dad and had almost come to blows with that coworker's boyfriend about it (I know, WTF?).
My wife was understandably upset about the rumor and wanted to burn all them bitches at the stake, but without a firm source of where the rumor had originated, our options were limited. All we did was explain to this girl the legal consequences of having a loose tongue. Gossip stopped there and then. Wife had to start over her crafts group, but I suppose the unintended purge ended up helping them.