11 Apr 2005
A week after the publication of an online phishing quiz to educate internet users about fraud, the first results show that over 90 per cent of us are at risk.
The Phishing IQ Test mixes actual phishing emails with letters from legitimate online providers. So far nearly 12,000 people have taken the test in the UK, and 92 per cent got at least one answer wrong.
"The 10 test emails are all real-life examples caught by our users, who then report them back to the company at the click of a button," said a spokesman from email security vendor MailFrontier which set up the site.
"This means that, had they appeared in people's email systems in real life, a significant number would not be able to tell a real email from a fraudulent one."
One week into the initiative 11,832 people have taken the test. Only seven per cent got all the answers correct, and the average user got just over seven out of 10 correct.
Over 300,000 people have tried the American version of the test and 96 per cent got at least one answer wrong.
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Do you agree?
Fair test
Good phishing test. Includes a few common phishing techniques. I even thought #10 was a legitimate because I thought the test might be trying to trick me because of what the other poster said. They should show the email it is from though. If people saw the email was from robot@ebay.com they would probably all think it was accurate. Unless someone is IT or CS they probably don't know that you can send email from any address. I would consider adding this because otherwise they might see an email in real life and just go "oh, it is from my bank!" Also why is this on digg or whatever.
Posted by: Cappy 01 Oct 2007
Your Test does not prove your claims!!!
Your Phishing IQ test is rubbish. I got three questions wrong that you say are legitimate, but as i do not use Paypal or sell on Ebay, I could not know outcome. Your statement is incorrect, it does not make me any more at risk. My three wrong answers were all where I suspected Phishing when you say it was not. How am I at risk? The answer is that I AM NOT because according to your test I am overly cautious. I think maybe you should attempt to rework your IQ test.
Posted by: Christian 31 Aug 2007