Survey: Why Do People Respond To Spam?


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July 15, 2009 11:04 AM PDT

Survey: Why do people respond to spam?

by Lance Whitney

Most people may think they're smart enough not to answer an obvious spam message. But is that really the case?

Almost one third of consumers questioned admitted answering e-mails they suspected were spam, says a survey released Wednesday by the Messaging Anti-Abuse Working Group (MAAWG).

Among those who responded to spam, 17 percent said they clicked on it by mistake, 13 percent said they sent a note to the spammer to complain, while 12 percent said they were interested in the product or service.

The MAAWG's survey study, "A Look at Consumers' Awareness of Email Security and Practices," also discovered that about two-thirds of the people considered themselves "very" or "somewhat" knowledgeable about Internet security. Most of them use antivirus software, but 21 percent said they take no action to prevent spam or dangerous e-mail from hitting their in-box.

More plus statistical graphs - cnet - http://news.cnet.com/security/

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