Cybercriminals Use Celebrity Names to Lure Victims

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Looking for information about Brad Pitt or Beyonce on the Web? It could be risky.

An internet security firm has dubbed the actor and singer the mostdangerous celebrities to search for on the Internet becausecybercriminals use their names to lure victims.

California-based McAfee Inc. said fans searching for information andpictures of Pitt, or downloads, wallpaper and screen savers, have an 18percent chance of having their PCs infected with a virus, spyware,spam, phishing and adware.

"Cybercriminals employ numerous methods, yet one of the simplest butmost effective ways is to trick consumers into infecting themselves bycapitalizing on Americans’ interest in celebrity gossip," explainedJeff Green, senior vice president of McAfee’s Product Development &Avert Labs.

"Tapping into current events, pop culture or commonly browsed sites is an easy way to achieve this," he added in a statement.

Web surfers looking for celebrity gossip, screen savers andringtones are often directed to fake Internet sites that looklegitimate but pose a risk to the security of their computers,according to the company.

Pitt and singer Justin Timberlake are the most dangerous men tosearch for on the Internet, while Beyonce and Heidi Montag, the star ofthe reality television show "The Hills", top the list for women.

Other celebrities on McAfee’s most dangerous list include singersMariah Carey, Rihanna and Fergie and film stars Angelina Jolie, JessicaAlba, Cameron Diaz and George Clooney.

Green said Americans’ obsession with following celebrities’ lifestyles make them obvious targets.

"We have to take precautions in casually navigating the Web sincemany subtle sites may be rife with malware for consumers’ computers,"he said, referring to software designed to infiltrate computer softwarewithout the consent of the owner.

Malware includes viruses, worms and spyware, which are computerprograms that report back to a third party a user’s activity andWeb-surfing habits.

The reasons for planting spyware range from simple marketingpurposes to more serious things like stealing files or passwords usedto access sensitive financial information.

Celebrity searchers can also be used for phishing, an attempt to getsensitive information by masquerading as an entity that is known to bereputable.

Searches for soccer star David Beckham and actresses Katie Holmes,Lindsay Lohan and Katherine Heigl are also risky and have a good chanceof infecting computers, the company said.