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One-Third Of Survey-Takers Respond To Spam Emails
Doug Caverly
Staff Writer
2009-07-16
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Here's a statistic that'll send shivers down the spine of anyone responsible for keeping more than a single personal computer safe: according to the Messaging Anti-Abuse Working Group, about one-third of individuals admit to responding to spam emails.
 | | One-Third Of Survey-Takers Respond To Spam Emails |  |
MAAWG interviewed 800 American and Canadian Internet users, so its data can't be dismissed as statistically insignificant. Furthermore, if you consider that there were probably more people who have responded to spam but didn't admit it (surveys on embarrassing subjects often underrepresent problems), the matter looks even worse.
People don't have particularly good excuses for clicking on spam messages, either. Their leading reason is "made a mistake." The second one is "sent a note," followed by "interested in product/service." Finally - and this is really scary stuff - there's just "unsure/don't know" and "wanted to see what would happen."
MAAWG Chair Michael O'Reirdan stated as a result, "Consumers shouldn't be afraid to use email, but they need to be computer smart and learn how to avoid these problems."
Ferris Research Principal David Ferris also stated, "According to the MAAWG findings, about one in six people are prepared to make an effort to report spam and the industry should find more ways to tap into this potential."
Educating people about spam can, of course, save them (and/or the IT department and their company) a lot of money and trouble. Then, in the long term, if people respond to spam less often, spammers will have less of an incentive to continue bombarding the public with emails.
Anyway, if you want more information, the complete MAAWG report (which comes with the entertaining title "A Look at Consumers' Awareness of Email Security and Practices or 'Of Course, I Never Reply to Spam - Except Sometimes'") is available for free (part 1 PDF and part 2 ZIP).
About the Author:
Doug is a staff writer for SecurityProNews, InternetFinancialNews, SearchNewz, and WebProNews.
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