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Like many things in life (e.g., sales), the odds are long so you have to keep at it. Take phishing for example. This relatively new approach to fraud through spoofing of a legitimate corporate Website (and email) to incite consumers to provide their personal information -- thus creating the identity theft and subsequent vaccuuming of the bank accounts -- is a real numbers game. A story in Information Week (Deceptive E-Mail Could Cost Consumers $500 Million, Study Finds) yesterday makes it clear.
What I see in the information from the following snip is: first, this is a bad thing being done by bad people; second, these (naive, gullible, . . .)people are the weakness that allows it to happen. That is, no amount of technology is available to protect those who don't protect themselves. Ironically, it's the same story as is being told viz. privacy from invasive direct marketing: many people rail about wanting their privacy protected from marketers but will give up their personal information for a free sample. Go figure.
Phishing could cost consumers $500 million this year, according to a new study conducted by the Ponemon Institute, a privacy research and watchdog organization.Posted by Grayson at October 1, 2004 07:48 AMThe study, based on a survey of 1,335 Internet users in the United States, finds that 76% of respondents experienced an increase in the deceptive E-mail practices known as phishing and spoofing. Perhaps more alarming, 70% report having unintentionally visited a spoofed Web site, and more than 15% admit revealing sensitive personal information in the process. [bold mine] Two percent claim to have experienced direct monetary loss because of phishers.
According to a July report from the Anti-Phishing Working Group, phishers are able to convince up to 5% of recipients to respond to them. [bold mine]