Math Heavy PDF
You'd think this was self-evident, but now Microsoft has finally provided the math to back it up:
Nigerian/419/advance-fee scammers say so up front in order to weed out the non-gullible, and get the only the most gullible recipients to self-select.
Considering that the cost per e-mail reply to the scammer is more than zero, it's helpful to him/her to pre-select for those most likely to pay off by:
a) saying he's from Nigeria
b) using poor grammar
c) including typos, etc.
So, there you are.
Carry on (non-gullibly)
You'd think this was self-evident, but now Microsoft has finally provided the math to back it up:
Nigerian/419/advance-fee scammers say so up front in order to weed out the non-gullible, and get the only the most gullible recipients to self-select.
Considering that the cost per e-mail reply to the scammer is more than zero, it's helpful to him/her to pre-select for those most likely to pay off by:
a) saying he's from Nigeria
b) using poor grammar
c) including typos, etc.
Originally Posted by related article
"In deciding who to attack true positives are targets successfully attacked, while false positives are those that are attacked but yield nothing.
"This allows us to view the attacker�s problem as a binary classification. The most profitable strategy requires accurately distinguishing viable from non-viable users, and balancing the relative costs of true and false positives�
"Far-fetched tales of West African riches strike most as comical. Our analysis suggests that is an advantage to the attacker, not a disadvantage. Since his attack has a low density of victims the Nigerian scammer has an over-riding need to reduce false positives. By sending an email that repels all but the most gullible the scammer gets the most promising marks to self-select, and tilts the true to false positive ratio in his favor."
Herley notes that, contrary to what some people think, an advance fee scam is not free for the fraudster. "[E]ach respondent to a Nigerian 419 email requires a large amount of interaction, as does the Facebook 'stuck in London scam.'"
The cost of sending an email may be close to zero, but "emptying bank accounts requires recruiting and managing mules".
"This allows us to view the attacker�s problem as a binary classification. The most profitable strategy requires accurately distinguishing viable from non-viable users, and balancing the relative costs of true and false positives�
"Far-fetched tales of West African riches strike most as comical. Our analysis suggests that is an advantage to the attacker, not a disadvantage. Since his attack has a low density of victims the Nigerian scammer has an over-riding need to reduce false positives. By sending an email that repels all but the most gullible the scammer gets the most promising marks to self-select, and tilts the true to false positive ratio in his favor."
Herley notes that, contrary to what some people think, an advance fee scam is not free for the fraudster. "[E]ach respondent to a Nigerian 419 email requires a large amount of interaction, as does the Facebook 'stuck in London scam.'"
The cost of sending an email may be close to zero, but "emptying bank accounts requires recruiting and managing mules".
So, there you are.
Carry on (non-gullibly)
. And one last thing, in order to verify who you really are, we'll need your mother's maiden name, your best friend's name from childhood, the name of the first school you attended, your place of birth, the name of your favorite pet, and your first child's middle name - or what it will or would have been. To protect your security, you can PM the info if you prefer.