Report: 40% of UK users fail in online fraud test

Can you spot an online scam when it’s staring at you, right in the face? Online crooks are getting pretty creative with how they go about their illegal shenanigans. Even a simple email might turn you into a fraud victim. So if you do happen to receive an email that’s just too good to be true, then ignore it. Chances are, it really is too good to be true, not to mention a waste of your time.

Other online scams that have made the rounds include virus scams and phishing scams. The former tries to get you to download a piece of “free” software that will infect your system with a virus. The latter will try to have you download an application or fill out a form asking for your personal information, credit card number, and a lot more.

And apparently, a lot of Britons can’t spot a scam when they see one. Or in the case of this study, when they were presented with one. PC Tools commissioned Ponemon Institute to conduct a new research study into the matter.

Ponemon interviewed 1,000 UK web users and found that around 40 percent said that they were “‘likely” or “very likely” in at least one of six online scams presented to them. Some of these scams included fake online prizes, offers for free anti-virus software, and registration to online shopping websites.

Ponemon’s study also revealed that the younger generation were more susceptible to these types of scams, especially users who belonged to the 16 to 18 year-old age bracket. Over 61 percent of these users said that they were highly likely to click on an alert offering free downloads to anti-virus programs. This is a huge difference to the 20 percent of users aged 56 to 65 who gave the same response.

Source – V3