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I wonder if scammers are intentionally misspelling subject lines because most security savvy people will just delete those as obvious scams and move on. This wo
by porlune 8y ago
I wonder if scammers are intentionally misspelling subject lines because most security savvy people will just delete those as obvious scams and move on. This would have a two pronged effect:
1. it would filter out security savvy individuals from the actual payload, who might report the scam.
2. it would map to the least security conscious individuals who would be the most likely to fall for it.
- mef 8y agoYes. See "Why Do Nigerian Scammers Say They are From Nigeria?" https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/publication/why-do-nigerian-scammers-say-they-are-from-nigeria/ https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/publication/why-do-...
- Waterluvian 8y agoThat page seems like it used a lot of fancy language to say something that could be said in two sentences.
- general8bitso 8y agoWhat are the two sentences so I don’t have to click the link?
- PaulBGD_ 8y agoHonestly just one: > By sending an email that repels all but the most gullible the scammer gets the most promising marks to self-select, and tilts the true to false positive ratio in his favor.
- bryanrasmussen 8y agoI wonder about that - is there a bad spot where the obvious scam mail is so obvious that it prompts more people to troll the scammer back? I mean the people who take the time to troll the scammer back want enjoyment out of it, and the chance of getting that enjoyment would seem to be heightened if the scammer seems more likely to be an idiot.
- general8bitso 8y agoI don’t think the scammer is an idiot, but I only have so much time in the day for vigilantism. I did get an IRS scam VOIP number shutdown last week in about 15 minutes.