Think you're good at identifying scams? Try this! - bit-tech.net Forums

Tim S · 27th Jul 2007, 12:45

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2007/07/27/scammers_test/1

McAfee has created a 10-question test to see if your scam-detecting skills are up to par.

Spacecowboy92 · 27th Jul 2007, 12:52

9/10

I’m shocked! I got the capital one wrong. Damn, I knew the template looked dodgy but it looked so convincing. It got hard when they took the site addresses away. I even had to check Amazon to see what colour that parcel at the top is, red or green.

poenanie · 27th Jul 2007, 12:55

6/10 though I did this in a rush , I feel ashamed of myself

specofdust · 27th Jul 2007, 12:56

8/10 - not bad I suppose. Quite an interesting little test.

whisperwolf · 27th Jul 2007, 12:58

10/10 just look for grammar mistakes, I make enough but major companies shouldn't

TheVoice · 27th Jul 2007, 13:04

10/10 for me. Some of them were a bit more tricky though, it has to be said.

CardJoe · 27th Jul 2007, 13:08

8/10, I just look for key features.

mikeuk2004 · 27th Jul 2007, 13:10

Darn, Java is blocked here at work. Will have to wait till I get home.

Matkubicki · 27th Jul 2007, 13:16

10/10, far too easy

If scammers learnt some grammar we'd all be stuffed though, although the Paypal email was tricky as i couldn't do my usual trick of hovering over the link and seeing where it pointed.

Anyway if that's the worst scammers have got i will sleep easier

Amon · 27th Jul 2007, 13:19

9/10. Most of these were unbelievably obvious. That being said, we're with computers often, so it's no surprise to us that we'd catch what typical users would miss.

LoneArchon · 27th Jul 2007, 13:31

9/10 missed the Bank of America one. I usually check the url to see if the site is a scam.

yodasarmpit · 27th Jul 2007, 13:32

10/10

Icy EyeG · 27th Jul 2007, 13:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by LoneArchon

9/10 missed the Bank of America one. I usually check the url to see if the site is a scam.

Also missed that one... 8/10 (didn't know about the The Nigerian 419 scam...)

FR34K · 27th Jul 2007, 13:43

9/10...got the bank of america one wrong cause I didn't read the text errors. good thing I don't use them.
I used to get the Nigerian scams all the time.

XeroNXS · 27th Jul 2007, 13:59

Rating: Safety Guru

10/10 on my first try.

Votey · 27th Jul 2007, 14:05

10/10. Way too easy for people like us bit-tech readers. But your average Joe Sixpack using his interweb connectrolla wouldn't catch many of them.

Shielder · 27th Jul 2007, 14:07

10/10. Although I guessed on the Amazon site. I didn't notice the errors on the page and just clicked on the one that looked right. I should really have only got 9/10 I suppose.

Andy

Cobalt · 27th Jul 2007, 14:13

9/10. I lost on the amazon one. Thing is that I would always check the address bar before anything else if I suspected a phishing attack so the questions without it were a bit pointless.

Also if I get a link in an email to a shopping/banking website then I'll always just type in in the address bar anyway to avoid any problems.

kenco_uk · 27th Jul 2007, 14:13

9/10 - got the last question wrong! Gah!

yodasarmpit · 27th Jul 2007, 14:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shielder

10/10. Although I guessed on the Amazon site. I didn't notice the errors on the page and just clicked on the one that looked right. I should really have only got 9/10 I suppose.

Andy

I did the same with the amazon one, I didn't pick up on the error, it just didn't look right esp the links at the bottom.

27th Jul 2007, 12:45	#1
Tim S Pewlius Caesar bit-tech Staff Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Ascot, Berks Posts: 18,021	Think you're good at identifying scams? Try this! http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2007/07/27/scammers_test/1 McAfee has created a 10-question test to see if your scam-detecting skills are up to par. __________________ Tim on Twitter \| Tim's Blog \| Tim's Flickr The bit-tech Blog \| bit-tech on Twitter \| Join the bit-tech & Custom PC folding team (#35947)

27th Jul 2007, 12:52	#2
Spacecowboy92 Gettin' Lazy Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Winchester, UK Posts: 757	9/10 I’m shocked! I got the capital one wrong. Damn, I knew the template looked dodgy but it looked so convincing. It got hard when they took the site addresses away. I even had to check Amazon to see what colour that parcel at the top is, red or green. __________________ Last edited by Spacecowboy92; 27th Jul 2007 at 12:53. Reason: Spelling

27th Jul 2007, 12:56	#4
specofdust Banned Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Aberdeen, UK, EU Posts: 7,607	8/10 - not bad I suppose. Quite an interesting little test. __________________ Like marmite, only no-one hates it Mmm bop!

27th Jul 2007, 12:58	#5
whisperwolf Ultramodder Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Edinburgh Posts: 1,194	10/10 just look for grammar mistakes, I make enough but major companies shouldn't __________________ "I do not agree with what you have to say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it. " Voltaire. My Flickr

27th Jul 2007, 13:08	#7
CardJoe Player Character bit-tech Staff Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 7,940	8/10, I just look for key features. __________________ this is joe's non-bit-tech blog

27th Jul 2007, 12:55	#3
poenanie Minimodder Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 40	6/10 though I did this in a rush , I feel ashamed of myself

27th Jul 2007, 13:04	#6
TheVoice Multimodder Join Date: May 2007 Location: High Wycombe Posts: 101	10/10 for me. Some of them were a bit more tricky though, it has to be said.

27th Jul 2007, 13:10	#8
mikeuk2004 What you Looking at Fool! Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Sheffield, UK Posts: 3,047	Darn, Java is blocked here at work. Will have to wait till I get home. __________________ -\|- Xfire - Mikeuk2005 -\|- Xbox Live - Mike UK 2006 -\|- Playstation Network - Mikeuk2004 -\|-

27th Jul 2007, 13:16	#9
Matkubicki Supermodder Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Manchester, UK Posts: 306	10/10, far too easy If scammers learnt some grammar we'd all be stuffed though, although the Paypal email was tricky as i couldn't do my usual trick of hovering over the link and seeing where it pointed. Anyway if that's the worst scammers have got i will sleep easier

27th Jul 2007, 13:19	#10
Amon inch-perfect Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: cannoning into the reds, Toronto, Canada Posts: 2,456	9/10. Most of these were unbelievably obvious. That being said, we're with computers often, so it's no surprise to us that we'd catch what typical users would miss. __________________ Defunct Socket 939 San Diego 4000+::2GB PC3200::Radeon 9600 SE 128MB::200GB HDD::24" Dell 2407WFP-HC::WinXP x64/x86 dual boot Dell Vostro 1500 laptop::Socket P Merom T7100::2GB PC5400::Go 8600m GT 256MB::660GB HDD::15.4" WXGA+, 24" Dell 2407WFP-HC::WinXP::Fanatec 911 Wheel+Pedals

27th Jul 2007, 13:31	#11
LoneArchon Supermodder Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Waldorf,MD Posts: 422	9/10 missed the Bank of America one. I usually check the url to see if the site is a scam. __________________ .:NEED MORE ENERGY:. A64 x2 4800+/eVGA Geforce 8800gtx with dangerden Water Block/2GB Corsair 3200/250gb Western Digital/Asus A8N32-Sli Deluxe/24" Acer LCD

27th Jul 2007, 13:32	#12
yodasarmpit The other Brett. Moderator Join Date: May 2002 Location: West Lothian , Scotland Posts: 9,664	10/10 __________________ The Rt. Hon. Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson - "Ping Pong is coming home" www.yodasarmpit.com clickr my flickr

27th Jul 2007, 13:43	#14
FR34K Multimodder Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 77	9/10...got the bank of america one wrong cause I didn't read the text errors. good thing I don't use them. I used to get the Nigerian scams all the time. Last edited by FR34K; 27th Jul 2007 at 14:30.

27th Jul 2007, 13:59	#15
XeroNXS What's a Dremel? Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 9	Rating: Safety Guru 10/10 on my first try.

27th Jul 2007, 14:05	#16
Votey Minimodder Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Michigan, USA Posts: 39	10/10. Way too easy for people like us bit-tech readers. But your average Joe Sixpack using his interweb connectrolla wouldn't catch many of them. __________________ "This is worse than the time I accidentally grabbed the expanding foam can instead of the compressed air can."

27th Jul 2007, 14:07	#17
Shielder Live long & prosper! Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Northwich, UK Posts: 515	10/10. Although I guessed on the Amazon site. I didn't notice the errors on the page and just clicked on the one that looked right. I should really have only got 9/10 I suppose. Andy __________________ New Rig: GA-X38-DS5, Q6600 (running at stock until I get everything installed), 8GB OCZ RAM (not sure on timings), Inno3D 8800 GTS 512, Noctua NH-U12P heat sink, Hiper Type M 580, 4 HDDs, 2 opticals, Saitek Eclipse II keyboard, Sharkoon Rush gaming mouse, Samsung 2220WM monitor, running XP SP2 (32-bit), Vista HP (x64) and Fedora 9 Beta (x86-64).

27th Jul 2007, 14:13	#18
Cobalt Multimodder Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Surrey, UK Posts: 248	9/10. I lost on the amazon one. Thing is that I would always check the address bar before anything else if I suspected a phishing attack so the questions without it were a bit pointless. Also if I get a link in an email to a shopping/banking website then I'll always just type in in the address bar anyway to avoid any problems.

27th Jul 2007, 14:13	#19
kenco_uk glourious bacon? Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Bourne, Lincolnshire, UK Posts: 6,293	9/10 - got the last question wrong! Gah! __________________ MSI X58M - i7 920 4Ghz - 6GB Corsair - GTX260 648/2520 ::: Vote for bit-tech T - theevilelephant - "it sounded like bouncing around on a pogo stick, screaming in chinese while occasionally throwing a cat at a door."