The killing of Osama bin Laden by US special forces is likely to kick off a cyberscammer arms race, with spam messages, fake videos and poisoned pictures going to be their weapons of choice, experts have warned.

While most of the world slept after US President Barack Obama's announcement late night on May 1 that the al Qaeda chief had been killed in a targeted attack on his Pakistan hideout, cybercriminals quickly rushed to the offensive in an attempt to cash in on the breaking news, the experts said.

A spam message found by the security firm Sophos claims to have the "real" story of how bin Laden was killed, complete with images.

Although the message carries an air of legitimacy by purporting to be from a real news source, clicking on the link, however, directs users to an ad for window replacement.

This particular ad, the experts said, won't harm your computer or steal your money, but it's a definite sign of what's to come, LiveScience reported.

Undoubtedly, as with any news that grabs the world's attention, there are sure to be scores of people who will chase down any potential development on bin Laden's death.

But, be careful of news stories -- especially from sources you may never have heard of -- that promise footage of information no other site has, the experts warned.

"Don't blindly trust links you see online, whether in emails, on social networking sites, of from searches," Sophos' Paul Ducklin was quoted as saying.

A fake video claiming to have highly coveted footage of the killing of bin Laden is already making its presence known on a Spanish-language website.

The website, according to Michael Sutton of the security firm Zscaler, hits visitors first with a gruesome -- but fake -- photo of bin Laden after being shot.

"But, as with the fake news stories, the video is a setup -- a clever front. If you click on the video, you are first told to upgrade a Flash Player plugin, which is actually a piece of malware that allows criminals to gain unauthorised access to your computer," Sutton said.

As the aforementioned rigged videos and fake news stories find their footing and start spreading virally through the social networking giants, it's important to exercise caution about what you click, the experts said.

Even if your friends' Twitter feeds and Facebook walls are flush with bin Laden-related messages and links, it doesn't mean it's safe to click on those links, they warned.

Another vector for attack cybercriminals often use is poisoned SEO and images -- the tactic of creating malicious websites and rigged pictures tied to high-profile topics.

Last week's royal wedding, for instance, sparked criminals to quickly build phony websites -- including enticing pictures -- aimed at cashing in on search terms such as "royal wedding" and "Kate Middleton wedding dress".

The Japanese tsunami drew similar scams, targeting people's natural curiosity to back up what they'd been reading about with visual proof.

With a news item as international as bin Laden's death, it's important to remain vigilant while browsing the Web, the researchers cautioned.