As if it wasn't bad enough that your hero is dead, can you imagine how it must feel to anyone who because of their devotion to Michael Jackson winds up with more spam than ever in their e-mail?

That's right. Now that the King of Pop is gone, con artists have begun sending out e-mails with offers for Michael Jackson merchandise. Eight hours after he died, in fact. Actually, I'm surprised they waited so long.

Their hope? That you'll reply to an offer, and then these crooks will know that your e-mail is legitimate, and they can sell your e-mail address to companies.

But if that isn't bad enough, Computerworld Security, which is warning about these spammers, predicts that eventually these e-mails will contain something to click on, which will unleash a virus and make your computer so slow and worthless that you'll never be able to listen to another Jackson tune on your PC again. Or at least until you get rid of the virus.

So while I know people are pretty savvy when it comes to spam and being hit with viruses, be careful out there.