Web Fraud Victims are stupid and greedy: a policeman writes

Amusing account from a cop of how a lot of people drawn in by web
fraud are just greedy people who think theyre making a quick buck.
Common sense really - if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is


The researchers who came up with the statistic that fewer than half of
the UK's 29m internet users realise that they are responsible for the
security of their own personal details must have been sitting in the
waiting room at Newtown police station.

Judging from what I've seen this week, the Get Safe Online campaign (a
joint venture between the Government, the Serious Organised Crime
Agency and private enterprise) might have seriously overestimated the
intelligence of the average web user.

I've dealt with several genuine victims of identity theft and fraud,
but a surprising number are simply greedy.

http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/index.php?menuID=2&subID=1581

Re: Web Fraud Victims are stupid and greedy: a policeman writes

In article <1175275598.612636.231310@y80g2000hsf.googlegroups.com>,
"Old Boy" wrote:

> Amusing account from a cop of how a lot of people drawn in by web
> fraud are just greedy people who think theyre making a quick buck.

The same is mostly true of people who fall for traditional con jobs.
Many online fraud schemes are simple variants of cons that have been
around for decades.

The main difference in the online cases is the scale. A traditional con
man can usually only work on one mark at a time, but a spammer can
target millions.

--
Barry Margolin, barmar@alum.mit.edu
Arlington, MA
*** PLEASE post questions in newsgroups, not directly to me ***
*** PLEASE don't copy me on replies, I'll read them in the group ***

Re: Web Fraud Victims are stupid and greedy: a policeman writes

On 31 Mar, 02:57, Barry Margolin wrote:
> In article <1175275598.612636.231...@y80g2000hsf.googlegroups.com>,
> "Old Boy" wrote:
>
> > Amusing account from a cop of how a lot of people drawn in by web
> > fraud are just greedy people who think theyre making a quick buck.
>
> The same is mostly true of people who fall for traditional con jobs.
> Many online fraud schemes are simple variants of cons that have been
> around for decades.
>
> The main difference in the online cases is the scale. A traditional con
> man can usually only work on one mark at a time, but a spammer can
> target millions.
>
> --
> Barry Margolin, bar...@alum.mit.edu
> Arlington, MA
> *** PLEASE post questions in newsgroups, not directly to me ***
> *** PLEASE don't copy me on replies, I'll read them in the group ***

I got a letter in the post - not on email - saying I had won a Spanish
lottery El Gordo

Of course I had never entered

But it freaked me that it came in the post, with Spanish stamps, they
had my correct address, name

Scammers are getting offline!

Re: Web Fraud Victims are stupid and greedy: a policeman writes

Old Boy wrote:


> I got a letter in the post - not on email - saying I had won a Spanish
> lottery El Gordo
>
> Of course I had never entered
>
> But it freaked me that it came in the post, with Spanish stamps, they
> had my correct address, name
>
> Scammers are getting offline!

Happy times for philatelists! :-)