There’s a interesting report being run by Ars Technica about the results of a new study conducted by the Messaging Anti-Abuse Working Group (MAAWG). The study was based on the results of interviews by phone and Internet on 800 respondents. According to results fo the study, 48% of the respondents say that they never acted upon a spam email. 82% of these respondents say that they are aware of bots and botnets which are promulgating these spam emails. However, many of these people do not believe that they can be the prey of these bots and botnets.
Now here’s the interesting part – 12% of the respondents said that they responded to a spam email because they were interested with the product. Of course I don’t have to tell you what the majority of these spam mails contain. But if you really are not aware, here are samples of the subject line of these emails:
- Sexy Arab beach bikini model babes in lingerie
- Discover the world of sex! Viagra is your compass
Now, for those who clicked the spam email, 17% of them said that they just made a mistake when they opened the spam email. 13% of them did not have any idea on the reason why they opened the email and 6% of the respondents actually wanted to see what will happen when they open the spam email.
So, have you acted upon a spam email before?