Many U.S. Surfers Still Fall for Internet Scams

Microsoft has recently sponsored a survey, which shows that Americans aren't blessed enough with Web common sense while surfing the Internet. They fall victim to at least one online scam at the rate of one in five adult surfers.

According to the survey, 81% of the victims said they unwittingly did something wrong to hand over control of their systems such as by clicking on an e-mail that seemingly was from an authorized company or person. The victims confessed opening doubtful e-mails and in some cases even responded to them by declaring their personal information to senders who didn't appear suspicious because they used legitimate names or official logos.

The survey found that nearly 58% of respondents did not know anything about online scam, and those who knew were least educated about ways to avoid them.

Over half of those surveyed said they were unaware of any of the current Internet scams or threats. Sadly, this is the largely reason responsible for people falling prey to these criminal acts, said Adrienne Hall, senior director of communication and marketing at Microsoft. IT Week reported this on August 16, 2007.

In the survey, men respondents claimed to be more aware than women about online fraud. 47% of male participants hinted that they were 'knowledgeable' about Internet scams against only 36% of women. However, the research found that men rather than women are more vulnerable to online crime. While 69% of women said they had never succumbed to an online scam, a little less of 63% men claimed similarly.

According to Hall, Microsoft has observed a change over in tendencies of cyber crime in 2006. The company found that even with spread of user awareness about online fraud and identity theft and increasing exposure to media, many are still not aware of it.

Hall also said that security threats represent an issue for the industry as a whole and it is imperative that the industry act in a consolidated way to overtake the criminals and help educate and safeguard customers. Hall insisted that although security tools are essential, user education should be a priority in preventing such online scams.

Related article: Man Sues and Wins against ISP for Spamming Mail

» SPAMfighter News - 9/3/2007