• 0ops@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    43
    ·
    15 hours ago

    I heard once that the reason that those phishing emails are (usually) pretty obvious is because the phisher doesn’t want to accidentally catch a more attentive and careful victim, spend time trying to wire money from them, only for the victim to realize that it’s a scam before following through, therefore wasting the phishers time. The type of person to fall for the Nigerian prince stuff is not common, but they exist and the odds of them paying out are much higher.

    • CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      8
      ·
      edit-2
      5 hours ago

      I’ve heard that too. But, super-realistic scams exist, so if that’s right it’s just splitting the difference between the two that’s a bad strategy.

      • JackbyDev@programming.dev
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        6
        ·
        4 hours ago

        It’s mass phishing versus spear phishing. I believe anyone would fall for a highly specific spear phishing campaign from dedicated individuals, but I don’t believe most people are important enough to be victims of it nor do most people need to really do it.

        • 0ops@lemm.ee
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          4 hours ago

          Right and the motives are likely going to be different too. Mass phishers are just out to make a quick buck, but targeted phishing could be for money, intelligence, disruption, making a statement, or even just clout.