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Katie Price proves a big draw for cybercrooks

Vicky Shaw,Press Association
Tuesday 25 August 2009 12:33 BST
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Katie Price was named the UK's "most dangerous celebrity in cyberspace" by internet researchers today.

Fans scouring the web for the latest gossip on Price's relationship with cage fighter Alex Reid have a one in six chance of clicking on a "risky" website, a survey found.

Such sites could be loaded with spyware collecting information about users without their knowledge, and viruses that can infiltrate computers, with the goal of making money and committing ID theft.

Jude Law, who was last month revealed to be fathering a child with actress and model Samantha Burke, had the second highest percentage of related websites targeted by cybercrooks.

Law's ex-wife Sadie Frost was in 13th place.

Price's estranged husband Peter Andre came in joint 14th position with Prince Harry, with online users facing a one in 20 chance (6.2 per cent) of clicking on something potentially harmful.

Computer protection company McAfee looked at popular search engines such as Google and Yahoo! in assessing the risk by clicking on celebrity-related website links.

It found 16.3 per cent of Price-related websites/web-links had some sort of risky content attached.

McAfee's principal security analyst Greg Day said: "Cybercrooks capitalising on the public obsession with celebrities and current events is nothing new...

"A quick flick across the front pages of the latest popular newspapers and magazines offers a fairly reliable snapshot of where the criminals will focus their efforts next."

Supermodel Kate Moss was also a popular choice, coming in at fourth.

Her party pal Lily Allen, recently snapped on holiday with Moss, trailed eight places behind her.

Victoria Beckham's new role on American Idol and her husband David's fall out with LA Galaxy fans ensured the couple both scored top five positions.

Jessica Biel was found to be the riskiest US celebrity target, with 20.1 per cent of celebrity websites related to her being potentially harmful.

Internet users can download an internet traffic light system called McAfee SiteAdvisor which flags up what is safe and what is not for free at www.siteadvisor.com.

Here are the top 15 "risky" UK celebrities and the percentage of websites related to them which were found to be potentially harmful:

1. Katie Price - 16.3 per cent

2. Jude Law - 15.4 per cent

3. Victoria Beckham - 13.6 per cent

4. Kate Moss - 12.6 per cent

5. David Beckham - 12.1 per cent

6. Daniel Radcliffe - 12 per cent

7. Kerry Katona - 9 per cent

8. Amy Winehouse - 8.6 per cent

9. Cheryl Cole - 8.5 per cent

10. Leona Lewis - 8.3 per cent

11. Daniel Craig - 8.1 per cent

12. Lily Allen - 7.4 per cent

13. Sadie Frost - 6.7 per cent

14. Peter Andre - 6.2 per cent

14. Prince Harry - 6.2 per cent

And here are the US celebrities targeted:

1. Jessica Biel - 20.1 per cent

2. Beyonce - 17.9 per cent

3. Tom Brady - 17.4 per cent

4. Jessica Simpson - 17.6 per cent

5. Jennifer Aniston - 12.3 per cent

6. Gisele Bundchen - 15.8 per cent

7. Miley Cyrus - 15.5 per cent

8. Megan Fox - 15.3 per cent

8. Angelina Jolie - 15.3 per cent

10. Ashley Tidsdale - 14.9 per cent

11. Brad Pitt - 14.8 per cent

12. Reece Witherspoon - 14.4 per cent

13. Britney Spears - 14.3 per cent

14. Rihanna - 14.1 per cent

15. Lindsay Lohan - 14 per cent

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