Study Shows More Consumers Fall for Phishing Scams

I've covered phishing scams in an earlier post and mentioned that until recently I didn't think people would respond to these emails. But they wouldn't continue to use this method if it wasn't successful.

According to a study by the University of Indiana's Informatics department, these scams might have more takers than they originally thought. The way these scammers make their killing is by spamming as many email addresses as possible, hoping to find a percentage of consumers who both have an account with the institution being imitated and will submit the information out of concern for their account. Earlier reports showed about 3%, but according to this university survey, it could be as high as 14%.

The study involved simulating the phishing attack on Ebay customers, and when someone clicked on the link, they were directed to Ebay's login page. Researchers were notified of the customer logins but not passwords and other private information.

As the attacks become more hi-tech, the methods of research will need to follow. This was definitely an effective survey method. Other methods don't take into account that many people are too embarrassed about being scammed to admit to it.