Wired.com has become the victim of a prankster who published a hoax story saying that Apple CEO Steve Jobs has died of heart attack at his California home.

The fake report was made to look as a legitimate story, with Wired logo, a current timestamp and a list of related stories. It had also the signature of John C Abell, a Wired editor known to cover Apple subjects.

 

But the fake story was just a picture and the prankster has managed to create a cursorily valid-looking page, using the Wired’s public upload image viewer. The URL was then distributed to various social networks such as Twitter.

 

Wired.com took down the URL in less then two hours and John C Abell posted an article explaining the anatomy of the hoax. “The pride I feel about my byline having sufficient gravitas to perpetrate a credible Steve Jobs health hoax is, however, mitigated by the many atrocious spelling and grammatical errors attributed to me in the fake story. They included: "Steve Jobs in has had," "Paulo Alto" "ambulence."  Also, there has been a "sombre mood surrounding sever of the Apple board," I was said to report,” Abell wrote in his article.

 

However, this is the second time in less then a year when Steve Jobs’ health has been the subject of such hoax story. Last year in October a teenager has published on CNN's iReport "citizen journalist" web site a false report that company co-founder Steve Jobs had suffered a heart attack. The Securities and Exchange Commission launched an investigation into the report to discover whether it was motivated by investors hoping to drive down the company's stock and make a profit by short- selling it.

 

The investigators found no evidence that the suspect attempted to profit from the sharp drop in Apple's stock. Steve Jobs’ health has been a subject of debate since last year’s WWDC when his appearance has lead to rumors that he could have a recurrent cancer or other health problems.

 

Earlier this month, Steve Jobs admitted that a hormonal imbalance is the cause of his health problems and he announced in an e-mail sent to Apple employee that he will take a medical leave of absence until the end of June.