[pchelpers] Article:'Scam-spammers' mess with our minds

Even skeptical computer users sometimes fall for e-mail scams,
researcher says
Gregg Keizer


June 26, 2007  (Computerworld) -- Spammers and scammers know how to work
the mind games that make even the most sophisticated and skeptical
computer users fall for their tricks, a researcher said today in a
just-released report.

In an analysis of common e-mail scams, James Blascovich, a psychology
professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, said that for
all the software and "mental" filters users apply, spam works, and
always will.

"Some proportion of users are gullible, naive, irrational -- the list of
synonyms can go on and on," said Blascovich. Gullibility, which he ties
with naivete -- sometimes about technology, sometimes about how
legitimate organizations conduct business -- is a major factor in the
success of "scam-spam." Even if just one-half of 1% of all e-mail users
are gullible and can be separated from $20, that's a potential economy
of $5.5 billion in the U.S. alone, claimed Blascovich.

More here:
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9025762&intsrc=news_ts_head
-- 
John Durham
Site http://modecideas.com
Server hosted on Ubuntu 4.10
Good advice is like good paint. It only works when applied.



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