12% Of Internet Users Are Idiots!
According to the Messaging Anti-Abuse Working Group (MAAWG), 12% of Internet users have admitted to ordering a product that was advertised in a spam message. Though this is not surprising, it is these idiots that cause the remainder of us to fight spam and the junk mail that persists year after year. No matter how many times people are warned about junk mail, there are those that fall victim to this garbage.
According to an article over at ars technica it also states:
Admitting the secret shame
The MAAWG conducted 800 interviews by phone and Internet across the US with people who had e-mail addresses not managed by a corporate IT staff. It found that two-thirds of the group said that they were very or somewhat experienced with Internet security, and a majority used filters of some kind in order to avoid spam. Eighty-two percent were aware of bots and botnets, though not many believed they were at risk of being victimized by one.
Slightly less than half (48 percent) said that they have never clicked on a spam e-mail. That’s the good news, but that means the other half have clicked on or responded to spam. But why? The answers will undoubtedly horrify you. A full 12 percent said that they were interested in the product or service being offered—those erection drug and mail order bride ads do reach a certain market, it appears.
Seventeen percent said that they made a mistake when they did so—understandable—but another 13 percent said they simply had no idea why they did it; they just did. Another six percent “wanted to see what would happen.”
This is unbelievable:
13 percent said they simply had no idea why they did it; they just did. Another six percent “wanted to see what would happen.”
As long as we have these folks living among us, spam will continue to flood our in boxes.
Comments welcome.
17 Comments
leftystrat
July 16th, 2009
at 2:20pm
I seriously dispute that figure.
It’s closer to 75% without using that criterion.
It’s also a reason to be hopeless: the figure used to 10%.
Shtanto
July 16th, 2009
at 9:02pm
I thought it was 12% aren’t idiots. ‘Course you’re left to define idiot then.
Geeks Getting Out and About | Chris Pirillo
July 16th, 2009
at 11:38pm
[...] Could 12% of Internet users really be idiots? [...]
David
July 16th, 2009
at 11:44pm
There’s no answer to people of limited intelligence and virtually no technical ability. Can’t actually stop ‘em using computers – more’s the pity!
Tetris Potter ~ Windows Fanatics
July 17th, 2009
at 2:15am
[...] 12% of Internet users really be [...]
Jack Holloway
July 17th, 2009
at 7:36am
I would have thought the numbers would have been much higher.
After using computers from the the TI-99 days that figure has got to be wrong.
DB
July 17th, 2009
at 7:36am
I think 12% is reflected in the population as a whole.
system001
July 17th, 2009
at 7:59am
Less than 5% of the worlds population has any common sense, so can you honestly believe only 12%? Come on lets get real.
Geeks Getting Out and About | dv8-designs
July 17th, 2009
at 6:46pm
[...] Could 12% of Internet users really be idiots? [...]
MerryMarjie
July 18th, 2009
at 3:30pm
Years ago a man put an ad in a magazine and made a great deal of money. All it said was, “Hurry! Last Chance! Send $1 immediately to this address:xxxxxxxxxx.” It worked. A certain percentage of people will do exactly what this survey revealed, saying they were curious, they wanted to see what would happen, it appealed to them, etc.
As to the 12% figure, after reading so many letters, posts, comments and flames on the Internet, I can only conclude that number is much too low.
Roelof
July 18th, 2009
at 7:58pm
This is hardly what I’d call news. However it is another fine piece of evidence that the idiots are among us (well not among *us* of course, you know what I mean). There’s one born every minute. Like the woman who lost $400K in the well-known Nigerian email scam. Here’s the story http://www.katu.com/news/34292654.html
Another example: on the forum of the Dutch newspaper Telegraaf somebody stated that terrorists use Google to look for information they can use. Another forum member replied ‘if that is the case I will remove Google from my computer’.
And what about the famous story (it might be an urban legend, I dunno) of the helpdesk employee who asked a caller ‘is your computer running under Windows?’ The caller replied ‘no it is against the wall, the window is on the other side of the room’.
Glenn Roberson
July 18th, 2009
at 11:31pm
+1 on ALL the comments!
I have met people who I don’t know how they’re even living without assistance, and the average person can be sucked into something by a skillful enough presentation. I’m fairly convinced that only the Ubergeeks among us understand enough to “resist the temptations,” because we know the likely outcome and all it’s ramifications.
Cliffystones
July 19th, 2009
at 8:16am
Who else thinks the web has become like “Publishers Clearing House” on steroids!
Dr Bruce Hoag
July 20th, 2009
at 10:57pm
It’s well known in academic circles that such figures are somewhat unreliable for two reasons: 1) some people wish they did, and so admit to it for vicarious reasons; and 2) others who did participate are too embarrassed to confess to it. Personally, I think the 12% is too low, but without conducting a proper study, it’s really impossible to know.
Cheers, Bruce
Manny Borges
July 21st, 2009
at 12:51pm
It was a phone survey.
Common sense dictates that the kind of idiot that responds to a phone survey is also the kind of idiot who will respond to spam.
I know it feels like there a huge amount of idiots out there, but I have to question the validity of this study.
Dutch OPTA Tough on Spam « JOHN DIERCKX
July 27th, 2009
at 4:57pm
[...] 12% Of Internet Users Are Idiots! [...]
Sean
August 4th, 2009
at 10:51am
Given the tech support I do, 25% is a more resonable figure.