Nearly a third of spammed users take the bait: report

Is anyone really dumb enough to buy those sex "enhancement" pills, cheap Rolexes or pirated copies of Office advertised in spam? Well, yeah, and more than you might think, according to a recent survey. No wonder spammers keep coming back for more.

Researches for Net security firm Marshal claims that out of 622 users surveyed, a whopping 29 percent admit that they've bought products advertised in spam messages, CRN reports.

The most popular items? Sex pills ("Free CialisViagra For You!"), adult entertainment, cheap software, and luxury items ("Rolex Watches under 250$"), according to the survey.

So, does one in three users sound a little high? Maybe so, but consider this: As CRN points out, a Forrester Research report back in 2004 concluded that about a fifth of Net users had, at one point or another, bought something from a spammer—a figure that makes Marshal's 29-percent estimate sound depressingly plausible.

Another disturbing note: While only about one in a million spam messages results in a sale, according to the Marshal report, the actual response rate might be much higher once you take spam filters into account. Worse still: Thanks to the rise in botnets, it only costs spammers an average of $5 to send out a million messages, say the Marshal researchers. Greeeaaat.

OK, true confessions time: Have you ever bought something from a spammer? And if so, will you promise never, ever to do it again?

Related:
Spam sales surge [CRN]