I was in an internet cafe in town and i cant help but to look at what the dude beside me is doing online...
Typical "Click here to learn how you can make $3000 in 1 month" advertisement sent thru email and i start to wonder why this kinda rubbish is so prevalent when it is so obvious that it is a total scam and nobody I know in their right mind ever replies to it...
Apparently ppl i know dun constitute the world, and although 99.99% of Singaporeans are smart enough to know not to even open such email, this is definitely not the case around the world. ESPECIALLY for countries that are still developing-but-still-not-exactly-developed, countries which are developed enough to have internet access, a reasonable command of english, yet still poor and gullible enough to believe that the reason foreigners are so freaking rich(in contrast to them) is because of such internet deals.
Needless to say, i continued spying and peeking across to see what would be his reaction when he opens up this mail. I am not kidding you when i say that he read (at least i think so, cause he took so long at that page...) every single word in the "get-rich-in-10 simple steps-formula", clicked on the "Click here for instant cash" icon, started to phone his mom/friend/brother/sister/whoever and got a credit card number because there was a requirement for personal details (what, you mean you dunno that is their ONLY aim?!)
Anyway, i was still looking onto his screen occasionally(you really think i dare to stare ah?) now and then and fortunately he didnt carry on to type his details inside, but prob more because his time was up and he got up. I have a feeling he will eventually submit his personal details though when he cannot resist the temptation of "$3000 in 10 simple steps, right from home!" and that is the reason why we continue to see such rubbish spam all across the world...
The ones at risk are not the rich and developed (although we do occasionally get caught off guard and think it is for real, though i think it is the minority) but rather poor counties that are starting to get internet connectivity and they suddenly receive "offers" to get real cash. they often have no inkling whatsoever of the perils of the internet world and i can envision thousands, if not more, of these ppl who actually believe such things and become victims to these cyber crimes.
This is not the 1st, and definitely will not be the last incident that i will witness in my short time in Kathmandu internet cafes, and i have seen at least 4 different ppl on separate occasions genuinely read thru the "get rich plan" and entered their emails etc to get more info (and subsequently get asked for their other info of course...)
i really wonder how many ppl believe such schemes and eventually regret getting cheated of their life savings... definitely a sizeable number given the proliferation of such spam mail (as we call it).
Demand calls for supply, and as I see it now, the supply is present in obscene amounts which can only mean the worst.
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