The ability of non-techie individuals to recognize and spot fraud and dangers on the Internet is still largely underdeveloped.

Few people are aware of the dangers, risks, and types of hooks that malicious software, online devices, misleading e-mails, and apparently normal Web pages utilize to get access to their computers or to confidential, private information they may have saved in them.

We know too little of the deceptive strategies and fake scenarios that serve as direct traps for capturing and attacking Web users’ ignorant Web wanderings.

The lack of real-world clues that we have learned to utilize to know whether to trust a business vendor or marketplace offering in the real, physical world, makes it extremely difficult and time consuming for the average Internet user to be able to recognize fraud and deception when they present themselves online.

Here is Dr. Eric Shaffer’s own take on the interesting results of a research study entitled “Perils of Internet Fraud: An Empirical Investigation of Deception and Trust with Experienced Internet Consumers,” originally published in 2000, but still very relevant today.

[Continue reading Internet Deception: How To Protect Yourself From Phraud, Phishing And Pharming]