Is Rick Astley Dead? Internet Hoaxes Have Fans Wondering

June 30, 2009 — -- Fans can breathe easy,beloved pop star Britney Spears is alive and well.

And contrary to Internet reports, so are singer Rick Astley,teen sensation Miley Cyrus, actor Harrison Ford, talk show host Ellen DeGeneres and actor Jeff Goldblum.

These celebrities are just among a growing roster of the rich and famous who have had false death reports published about them online in the days following the passing of high-profile celebrities such as Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett.

Internet experts say that these pranksters, who commonly remain unidentified even after their hoaxes have been exposed, are simply attention-seekers capitalizing on a climate of fear and doubt.

"Whenever you get unusual events like this weird kind of cluster of actual celebrity deaths it creates a mood of doubt and uncertainty, which is the environment that hoaxes and urban legends proliferate," said Alex Boese, the founder of the Web site Museaumofhoaxes.com.

"Because our mental defenses are slightly weakened, we're more willing to believe everything we read," said Boese, whose site chronicles the most popular hoaxes throughout history.

On Thursday, when news of Jackson's death was revealed, a blog post claiming that Goldblum had been killed on the set of a movie he was filming in New Zealand.