Credit crunch fraud

UK internet users are increasingly at risk from fraudsters using financial spam to take advantage of the credit crunch

A study has found that the UK has become a preferred target of bogus organisations offering pre-approved loans and credit cards.

UK residents also remain the most likely target of Nigerian fraudsters, attracting nearly a quarter (23%) of this type of spam sent to addresses worldwide.

They also receive more adult content than any other country except for the US. Computer security company McAfee asked 50 volunteers in 10 countries to surf the web unprotected for 30 days in an effort to assess the benefits and dangers of spam.

Spam emails

Each volunteer was given a new, unprotected laptop and fresh email address with a credit card allowance of £250 to spend on deals offered in spam emails.

The trial coincided with the 30th anniversary of the first spam email, sent by a Californian electronics firm in 1978.

Simon Nicholls, a software developer from Brighton, received the fourth highest number of spam emails out of all the participants, a total of 5,414.

The five UK participants received the fifth highest number of emails, 11,965 in total and 1,149 in the first week alone.

The participants from all 10 countries received more than 104,000 spam emails over 30 days, an average of 2,096 each or about 70 a day.

McAfee said the experiment confirmed spammers were "as active as ever'' and were increasingly using ``psychological tricks'' to lure internet users into parting with contact details and cash.

Local languages

Spammers were using more local languages and cultural nuances as well as becoming much more targeted in a bid to avoid detection.

McAfee warned that many of the spam emails were phishing, or posing as a trustworthy source to fraudulently acquire sensitive information such as usernames, passwords and bank account details.

Others carried viruses and many encouraged "malware'', or malicious software, by persuading participants to surf unsafe websites.

None of the UK participants received viruses but 8% of the spam was classified as phishing emails which claimed to come from Chase.com, Bank of America, Wachovia.com and eBay.

A number of participants noticed their computer's processing speed slowing down and an increased number of pop-ups.