Posted on 07/13/2005 6:32:49 AM PDT by Mike Bates
Nine percent of U.S. Internet users have lost money on e-mail scams, according to a survey of 791 users conducted by market research firm The Radicati Group.
The study was conducted online in April and commissioned by Mirapoint, a vendor of e-mail appliances that block spam and viruses.
"We didn't expect it to be nine percent, we expected it to be a lot lower than that," says Marcel Nienhuis, a senior analyst with Radicati.
Nienhuis defines an e-mail scam as "any e-mail whose intent is to trick somebody out of money."
The survey, however, left it up to respondents to define a scam, just asking: "Have you ever lost money to an e-mail scam?"
When the respondents were asked which three kind of scams and spams they receive most often, the marketing of prescription drugs, financing services, pornography, and Nigerian fraud and phishing scams were on the top of the list.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
There is a sucker born every minute.
You & me both, bud.
I already quit my job and am waiting for the check from my dear friend Dr. Barrister Christian Lotongo Melele.
Any day now.
Any day now.
I should be getting my bank draft from Nigeria any day now. I want to use the money to invest in that up and coming gold mine in New Jersey right off Exit 9A
Me too~! And he only asked for a very reasonable amount of money up front- how about you?
I just cannot work up any sympathy for anyone stupid enough to get taken this way.
No, no, no. You blew it, I'm sorry. I didn't fall for that your check is in the mail fraud. Much too clever for that. I'm waiting for my Nigerian friend to transfer the funds into my bank account, which is why I gave him the numbers, passwords, etc. I'm no dummy.
Instead of using it for that, could I persuade you to pay off a few of my charge cards? I'll give you the numbers, OK?
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
Why is there spam? Because there are IDIOTS that respond to it!
Confiscate their computers!
I just cannot work up any sympathy for anyone stupid enough to get taken this way.
****
Amazing how many well educated, presumably highly intelligent people are "taken." Sometimes it's a matter of too much trust and maybe a certain amount of greed.
A close friend's mother at age 80 became internet savvy. She particularly loved e-mailing her family members, some of whom are scattered overseas. But then she started getting scam e-mails. Friend has had to put certain blocks in her mother's e-mail account so that she receives only messages from her children, grandchildren and a few select senders. Her Mom is a very trusting lady. If you came to her with any type of sob story, she would fall for it. So far, she has not been a victim of these scams, but she could be.
Hey, hey, hey! No need to get personable.
Lucky for you, I just happen to investigate such things.
If you'll FReepMail me your account number, I'll find out what happened to your money.
My fee is ONLY 1%.
Act before midnight tomorrow, and you also get a set of Ginsu Steak Knives, at no extra charge.
A friend got a deal on Nigerian crude. He's convinced its real...
What did you say this lady's e-mail address is?
I purchased a DVD rewinder on-line 3 months ago and it still hasn't arrived. Guess it's my own fault
Such a deal. Is it OK if I invite a few close friends in on your project? They have bank accounts, too.
I just want to sympathize, honest.
oooooh you blew the Denny Crane quote again... make that the 301st different version of the same quote
(you know, it's really a great quote- why not get it exactly right once, and then just cut and paste the same thing each time)
Good thing I'm a grouchy cynic in my thirties. By the time I'm 80 if you give me a sob story I'll probably just hit you with my cane and say "now you have something real to sob about".
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