Phishing Scammers Are Performing A Community Service

Here's a question or two for you.

If you received a letter in the mail [regular postal mail] and asked you to post back your bank account details for "verification", would you reply to the letter? Or, would you simply call your bank and ask why they require that information, or alternatively just throw the letter in the bin?

What if someone rang you and said that they were updating your personal banking details, would you sit there and give out your account number, pin number and any other information they requested? Or would you simply say "sorry, but I don't give out my personal information over the phone. I will call into a branch tomorrow" and hang up?

The reason I ask is that the latest AOL/NCSA from the USA has just published a report which indicates that 25% of all Americans are subject to receiving phishing emails seeking personal details. Of these, an astronomical 70% actually believed the emails were from their banks etc! When I read this, I simply shook my head and thought "how bloody stupid are some people!". The second thought that crossed my mind was that if they are gullible enough to fall for these emails, then they deserve to be ripped off. Sorry - but obviously these people don't really have a brain to think with.

Phishing scammers pray on the naivety, stupidity and the "adrenalin rush" caused by "oh my god! something's wrong. I better reply immediately" in people. They also pray on the greed that is a basic instinct in humans. I personally think that these phishing scammers should not be hunted down for punishment, but rather applauded for their efforts. Seriously. They should. And before you post comments abusing me, hear out my reasoning.

I receive phishing emails on a regular basis. Thankfully, my Gmail account is intelligent enough to know they are junk and puts them straight into the spam folder. On occasions I actually read these phishing emails, not because I have "inherited" some astronomical amount from someone I never knew, but because I simply want to see what they say. But one thing I never do, is reply to them. I read them, I chuckle and then click on the "delete" button.

Now, if people are so stupid as to reply to phishing emails, then so be it. The only way they are going to learn is if they become a victim to these scams. If for example, one is stupid enough to reply to a phishing email and give them their credit card details, and in turn, the scammer bleeds them dry of a few thousand dollars, then next time round they won't do it again. Assuming they are not that stupid as to fall for the same trick again.

I can hear people saying "but these are innocent people! they don't deserve to be ripped off". The reply to this is that if they are "innocent", then they shouldn't be let loose in society. Simple as that. This argument simply doesn't wash. Sorry.

Example. If you are driving down the road, and you decide to give a hitchhiker a lift because it's raining. You are being a decent human being. However, if this hitchhiker turns around and says "look, I am going to rob a bank. How about helping me", and you think "oh yeah. That will be fun" and go ahead and do it, get caught and end up in jail, then one has no one to blame but one's self! Stupidity is stupidity is stupidity.

Being a victim of a Phishing scam is simply that - stupidity of the highest degree. People need to start using the same attitude towards these phishing emails as they would if someone knocked on their door and asked for the personal details. If you give out your personal details willy nilly, then you deserve to be burnt.