Unseen World!

An internet rumor claiming controversial rapper Kanye West died in a Los Angeles car crash overnight is gaining momentum in the search engines this morning.

For the record, he has not. The bogus story created a firestorm of postings on social networking websites, like Facebook and Twitter. In truth, the rumor appears to have started as a prank with this posting on 4Chan.com:

“bizarre car crash in Los Angeles involving two luxury cars early this morning rapper Kanye West dead, a second injured, a third arrested for gross vehicular manslaughter and a fourth person was detained by police.”

In fact, it looks like the rumors were used to sling anti-malware scam. What losers. This is the lamest stunt since Balloon Boy (although it’s far less costly).

Users searching for more info on the fictitious fatality are liable to get redirected to sites distributing spyware, malware and "scareware," researchers warn.

The rumor itself reportedly originated on notorious image board 4chan, the seeding ground for the Anonymous campaign against Scientology and others.