Beyonce Knowles has not died

Spammers latch onto the strangest of things in their continued effort to spread viruses using HTML or zipped attachments. The latest trend concerns the false reporting of famous celebrities who have died.

Virus watchdog Symantec says that using the fake deaths of world famous celebrities has become a very popular ploy to lure you into opening poisonous attachments or clicking on dodgy links.

As a result of the growing trend, it’s named the celebrities most used in these fake emails. Don’t worry, at time of writing they were all alive and well.

Beyonce Knowles diedBon Jovi diedBrad Pitt diedCameron Diaz diedDavid Beckham diedGwen Stefani diedJay-Z diedJennifer Aniston diedJennifer Lopez diedJohnny Depp diedJustin Timberlake diedKanye West diedMiley Cyrus diedNicole Kidman diedRonaldinho diedTiger Woods diedTom Cruise died

“Spammers create curiosity in their messages to interest and provoke recipients to open and install executable files,” the firm warns. “They also use reputable brand names, such as a well known news agency, and celebrity names to gain credibility and the recipient’s trust. Users should follow standard practices of not opening any suspicious links and attachments received in unsolicited mail from an unexpected source.”