A CNN iReport poster reported this morning that Steve Jobs had been rushed to the ER after a severe heart attack. Fortunately, it appears the story was false. Immediately after reading the iReport story, Katie Cotton, Vice President of Worldwide Communications for apple, replied quickly, saying "It is not true." The iReport poster wrote:

Steve Jobs was rushed to the ER just a few hours ago after suffering a major heart attack. I have an insider who tells me that paramedics were called after Steve claimed to be suffering from severe chest pains and shortness of breath. My source has opted to remain anonymous, but he is quite reliable. I haven’t seen anything about this anywhere else yet, and as of right now, I have no further information, so I thought this would be a good place to start. If anyone else has more information, please share it.

CNN’s iReport kept the report up until at least 10:15 AM, about 20 minutes after Apple’s denial was published. The story has since been removed.

CNN says it removed the story because the "community" brought the story to its attention. Importantly, CNN also refers to the content as "fraudulent," which is much stronger than "inaccurate." "Fraudulent" implies an intent to deceive.

Apple’s stock also took a major hit today before bouncing back.

The SEC will no doubt investigate, and prosecute, the person who posted this false report, which was an obvious attempt to manipulate Apple’s stock price.

Who would actually trade stocks based on an iReport story anyway?

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