Online conmen 'exploiting users'
Updated on 26 June 2007
The mind games internet fraudsters play on their victims are highlighted in a new study.
Cyber criminals are exploiting human emotions, such as fear, insecurity and greed, to persuade people to part with money or to grab personal details off their computers, researchers found.
Common tricks include inviting victims to "click here for a reward" or "click here to avoid something you don't want to happen".
Other tactics include making out that an email is from a friend or a trusted authority like a credit card company, or grabbing our attention with headlines such as "shopping" or "dating".
University of Leicester forensic psychologist Professor Clive Hollin, who carried out the research, said: "Given the right conditions, in terms of the persuasiveness of the communication and the critical combination of situational and personal factors, most people may be vulnerable to misleading information.
"This point is true both for experienced and inexperienced computer users. While naivety may be a partial explanation, even sophisticated users can be deceived and become suggestible to misleading messages."
The investigation - commissioned by US security technology company McAfee - also found how online con artists are capitalising on new social trends.
Users of websites such as MySpace and Facebook, with their frequent and informal use of email and site updates, often fail to question the legitimacy of messages or links and users have become unsuspecting victims of both phishing and ID theft scams, the study found.
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