U.S. Internet fraud at all-time high 'Nigerian' scam and other crimes cost $198.4 million

U.S. Internet fraud at all-time high 'Nigerian' scam and other crimes cost $198.4 million (SF Chronicle)

Internet fraud has always been a problem on the internet since the rise of the internet. Everyone is constantly warned to avoid opening emails from people they don't know, and to verify the authenticity of any emails they think might be real. There has been a lot of work done to stop spam lately, but still some makes it through. I find it strange that so much money is actually made out of these scams. Anyone who has an email address has received hundreds and more likely thousands of unsolicited emails trying to scam you. I just don't understand how so many people could possibly mistake some of the jumbled misspelled garbage that comes through the email as legitimate offers.
I think the only way to slow the growth of online scam is to simply create a huge marketing campaign to stop it. It seems people only listen if they are told repeatedly. I know my parents are always assuming every email they receive is going to be a virus. They have heard so many news reports and seen so many television ads related to computer viruses, they that it what they are always worried about. Unfortunately sometimes you need to scare people into what is right for them, and this is one of those cases. If everyone assumes all their emails are fraud and then decide which ones might be real, they will most likely reduce they amount of people falling for these scams.