Chapter 10. Tip 10: Use Common Sense

Threat Type: Victim enabled

Examples of Threats:

• Bank-transfer scams

• Get-rich schemes

• Urban-legend e-mails

Our Tips:

• Be skeptical of any "deals" or money-making opportunities that you are told about online.

• Spend some time researching and verifying information.

You might be surprised to see a chapter in this book on common sense. Some of you might even be a little insulted. Well, as it turns out, in the human species two things are true:

• Common sense and intelligence are not related or connected in any way.

• Common sense ain't all that common.

Imagine for a moment that you open your front door one morning and there is a note taped to the door with the following letter:

Okay, now how many of you reading this think you would actually stuff the envelope with cash? We are guessing not one of you would do it. Many of you would throw the letter out with nothing more than a chuckle, assuming it was a prank played on you by some enterprising 12 year olds. Some of you would maybe even call the police to warn them of the scam.

Now for the sad news: If the note came to you via an e-mail, the statistics suggest that at least a few people would bite on this admittedly simple and poorly thought-out scam. If the scam were a bit more sophisticated, even more people would get taken.

The question is why? Why do people who would normally have some healthy skepticism about "too good to be true" deals when they are out in the real world suddenly become gullible when sitting in front of their home computer? That we cannot answer. But, we can at least make you aware of the tendency people have of letting their guard down while on the Internet.

We break this down into a few categories, starting with some mild stuff that is intended more to keep you from looking foolish, and then move on to more serious stuff that we hope will keep you from stuffing that envelope with cash.