Gosh darn it, keeping up with those newfangled digital scams is like trying to catch a greased pig! Those scammers are always one step ahead, I tell you. But we have done found out one simple thing y'all can do to keep from losing yer hard-earned cash to them online rascals: just take a breather!
Now listen up, these scammers like to make folks feel like they gotta act faster than a jackrabbit on a date. But acting fast like that stops you from thinking straight and making a smart choice.
When COVID locked us all up, and we started using the internet for shopping and banking more than ever, those sneaky scammers saw an opportunity and started cooking up all kinds of new tricks. This fancy cybersecurity companies, said those phishing attacks had gone up by over 200% during the worst of the pandemic.
One kinda scam folks fall for is the fake websites that look like real businesses or government places. The Better Business Bureau says fake websites are some of the worst scams out there. They have cost folks around in America $380 million in losses in 2022. And that's just what got reported.
Some researchers cooked up some experiments to see what makes it so hard for folks to tell real and fake websites apart. They had folks look at screenshots of both real and fake versions of websites like Amazon and PayPal, and over 200 folks joined in.
They asked them if they thought the screenshots were the real McCoy or not. Then they took tests on internet know-how and fancy thinking, which helps us tell what's real and fake in news and those pesky phishing emails.
Folks tend to use two types of thinking – fast and slow. Fast thinking is quick as a whip, automatic-like, and all emotional. Slow thinkin'gis more deliberate and takes some effort. Our study showed that folks who were better at slow thinking could tell real and fake websites apart more easily.
Some other smart folks found out that when you're in a rush, it's harder to spot those phishing emails. Scammers don't want us pondering on things, they want us getting all emotional-like. So they tried giving folks less time, about 10 seconds, to do the task.
Well, this time they got a new batch of folks, and when they had less time to judge a webpage, they couldn't tell real and fake websites apart too well. They were about 50% less accurate than the folks who had 20 seconds to think.
In one study, they gave folks 15 tips on spotting fake websites and told half of them to be accurate and take their sweet time, while the other half had to hurry it up. Working quickly messed up their performance and made Them forget the 15 tips.
As more folks use the internet, scammers try to trick them by taking advantage of their quick, emotional thinking. Scammers know that when folks make decisions lickety-split, it works out in their favor. So, the best dang advice we got for y'all is to slow down a bit!
Hey, It's Me
Billy Bob here. Down here in West Virgina we like to think we are just as smart as them folks out there in LA or up there in New York or even as smart as some of them eggheads out in that valley they called Silicon. Sure we got some boys and a couple girls a bit slow, but I bet everywhere has got a few. But anyway, we love having y'all, so just sit yourself down and stay a while. And if youns in big hurry then Y'all just come back you here! Bless your heart!
