Why Do Scam Emails Have So Many Typos?
Is anyone actually falling for this?
By Joshlin Sheridan, Marketing —
Phishing Scams
It’s a classic scenario that’s occurred several times in my inbox…
I’m checking my email when I come across a message from my long lost Nigerian uncle (who also so happens to be a prince). Yet again he’s been kidnapped and needs me to wire him $500 so that he can escape. Of course, though, he’s got mountains of diamonds and rubies waiting back for him in his palace, and he’d be happy to repay me $10,000 once he’s free. Sound familiar?
I always annoyed, yet slightly amused by these emails. The stories are so bizarre that I know within seconds they aren’t legitimate requests. Comedian James Veitch has had incredible success making YouTube videos recounting his back and forth conversations with these scammers. His wit is sharp and the scammer’s attempts are outrageous and laughable.
When these emails are so full of grammatical errors and typos, I’ve often asked, “Is anyone actually falling for this?”
A Method to the Madness
I’d always just assumed that English wasn’t the scammer’s first language, or that they were rushing or careless. As it turns out, often times these scam emails are actually meticulously written with intentional spelling and grammatical errors.
Scammers do this to target those people who are most gullible and susceptible to believing the sincerity of the emails. By incorporating so many errors, they cut down on “false positives,” or people like James Veitch who know the emails are fake but still take up their time. The majority of people will just laugh off the emails and trash them. For the scammers, this is good news, because the people who don’t laugh at their outrageousness are the ones who most likely believe them and wire the money.
More Believable Fake Identities
Most people do not fall for the fake identities put out by these phishing attempts. However, financial institutions, governments, and other organizations are constantly faced with the task of verifying online identities, many of which are much harder to discern. When it comes to online identity theft, times these malicious attempts are not so obvious. Those looking to apply for passports, credit cards, etc. can be quite convincing in the false documents and information that they provide.
This is why it is so necessary to have top-notch technology in assisting to discern if online persons are who they proclaim to be.
IdentityDetect™ is an online identity verification test that uses scientifically-proven methods to tell if someone is lying while they answer a series of questions about themselves. It is fast; it only takes a customer between 1-3 minutes to take. This is a valuable tool that organizations can add to their identity verification process in order to decrease the risk of engaging with individuals with fake identities. IdentityDetect is scalable, secure, and unbiased. Learn more here.
