Web scammers exploit Jackson's death

The cyber security arm of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) warned on Friday that Web scammers were seeking to take advantage of the deaths of Michael Jackson and Farah Fawcett.

US-CERT said it is "aware of public reports of an increased number of spam campaigns, phishing attacks, and malicious code targeting the recent deaths of Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett."

"Email messages may attempt to gain user information through phishing attacks or by recording email addresses if the user replies to the message," said US-CERT, the operational arm of DHS's National Cyber Security Division.

"Additionally, email messages may contain malicious code or may contain a link to a seemingly legitimate website containing malicious code," it said.

Phishing attacks are attempts by cyber criminals to collect user names and passwords through the use of realistic-looking replicas of Web pages, giving them access to legitimate user accounts.

US-CERT advised caution in opening unsolicited email and recommended that computer users be sure their antivirus software is up to date.