First Jeff Goldblum fell off a cliff. Then Harrison Ford was killed on a yacht. Then it was George Clooney's turn. The poor guy was lost in a plane crash over the Rockies.

Michael Jackson's sudden death last week was by far the biggest news story of the year, prompting millions of tweets and texts and breathless e-mails and a surge in traffic which threatened to topple some of the world's biggest websites.

It also prompted a disturbing wave of phoney celebrity death reports, relying perhaps on the feeling that bad things often come in threes. Only a few hours before Jackson collapsed, the death had been announced of Farrah Fawcett, the actress and 1970s sex symbol.

The first fakes were not particularly convincing, despite the use of telling details to give the stories a ring of truth. Goldblum was said to be filming in New Zealand when he fell off a cliff (as was, in another version of the same rumour, Natalie Portman). Ford was holidaying on a 120ft yacht off St Tropez when a storm hit and the boat caught fire.

But Clooney's publicist, Stan Rosenfeld, was forced to field calls from both serious media organisations and the actor's friends after phoney reports that a light plane he was travelling in had lost contact with air traffic controllers in Denver Colorado.

Last night the pranksters were at it again with a faked Associated Press report posted on CNN's user-generated iReport service announcing the death of the British singer-songwriter Rick Astley.

Astley didn't complain when he was last dragged into an internet phenomenon: indeed the practice of "Rickrolling" - posting misleading web links to the video of his 1987 hit Never Gonna Give You Up - helped him relaunch his career two years ago.

This time, it can't have been much fun. Using a genuine AP byline and aping the agency's staccato delivery, the authors of the fake news story reported that Astley's body was found at the Angleterre Hotel in Berlin, after an ambulance responded to a 112 call from his bedroom.

"In this call Astley reported chest pain, shortness of breath, and nausea," it said. "Paramedics found Astley unconscious in his hotel room. He was rushed to Charité hospital and pronounced dead at 12:32 am, June 30th. The cause of death is unconfirmed."

The story was quickly knocked back and blamed on the members of the 4chan web community who were also behind the Rickrolling phenomenon. But it wasn't allowed simply to die.

This afternoon, the phrase Rick Astley was the top trending topic on Twitter as fans joined in. Many were being directed to a picture of a hamster lying on its back, on top of the headline: "Proof that Rick Astley is dead."

Some posted video tributes on YouTube or clicked on rickastleydead.com, an instant fan site on which was posted the singer's best-loved video and a reassuring message: "Rick Astley is very much alive."

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