Study Finds Consumers Consistently Deceived by Phishing Messages

Study conducted by ICONIX finds that users opened one of every six spoofed messages linked to phishing scams.

SANTA CLARA, Calif., — February 5, 2007 — ICONIX, Inc., the leading provider of visual email identification solutions, today announced results from an end-user study which found that on average, email users opened one in six phishing messages — fake email messages created to defraud consumers. The study also found that consumers' tendency to open spoof messages varied widely according to the type of message. Open rates ranged from a high of one in four fake messages claiming to be from social networks to a low of one in ten fake messages purportedly from dating services.

The study included 10,557 participants, and was conducted during a six month time period from May-October 2006. Results of the study, which recorded actual email behavior, were categorized into eight segments based on the type of message received. The open rate of spoofed messages breaks down as follows:

• Social networks - 24.9%
• E-cards - 17.1%
• Payment - 16.2%
• Financial - 15.5%
• Auction - 14.7%
• Info - 12.9%
• Retail - 12.1%
• Dating - 9.5%

"It's no secret that phishing attacks have significantly increased during the past few months," said Jeff Wilbur, vice president of marketing for ICONIX. "What is surprising is how effective the phishers are at motivating users to open spoofed messages. Based on the industry estimates that 59 million phishing messages are sent per day, our study indicates that as many as 10 million fake messages may be opened per day, creating huge risk for people receiving the messages. It's also interesting to see that social networks and e-cards top the list of open rates for spoof messages, indicating to us that users need to be cautious, regardless of the type of messages they receive. As phishing becomes more sophisticated and pervasive, it's easy for even the most discriminating email users to fall victim to such attacks."

Find the survey here

Majority of adults welcome marketing emails from familiar sources

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SAN MATEO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Acxiom® Digital, a leading provider of integrated digital marketing solutions for Global 2000 enterprises, today announced the results of a nationwide poll measuring attitudes and responses of online adults toward e-mail marketing communications.
The survey, conducted by Harris Interactive®, found that about three in four online adults (74 percent) view e-mail communications from a company they frequently patronize to be valuable or very valuable. In addition, 30 percent of online adults have purchased a particular good or service as a result of receiving such e-mails, and of these, 85 percent have done so within the past year. The poll surveyed 2,541 online adults throughout the United States.

In the group surveyed, the results concluded that:

94 percent have received an email solicitation.
30 percent reported that the solicitation prompted them to respond.
30 percent reported that the solicitation prompted them to purchase.
74 percent viewed email from companies they do business with as valuable.
17 percent viewed emails from companies they do not do business with as valuable.
61 percent identified timing of the email as an important factor in their desire to respond.
60 percent reported that compelling offers and discounts were an important factor in their desire to respond.
55 percent reported that email targeted to their specific interests, lifestyle or preference was important to them.
On average, 23 percent reported that personalization and graphic design were important to them.

"Savvy consumers have come to rely on e-mail marketing communications as a resource to help them get the best deals possible," said Kevin Johnson, president of Acxiom Digital. "Likewise, retailers have established e-mail marketing as an efficient and productive way to build and retain a loyal customer base and increase revenue by communicating with consumers in a meaningful way. This poll demonstrates that e-mail marketing has evolved over the years to bring more value to consumers while proving to be a more effective medium for retailers than ever before."

About the Survey

This survey was conducted online by Harris Interactive on behalf of Acxiom between September 25 and 27, 2006, among 2,541 U.S. adults 18 years of age or older. Figures for region, age within gender, education, household income and race/ethnicity were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Data were also weighted to be representative of the population of online adults on the basis of Internet usage (hours per week) and connection type.

With a pure probability sample of 2,541, one could say with a ninety-five percent probability that the overall results would have a sampling error of 3 percentage points. The sampling error for the sub-samples of online adults who have received e-mail communications from companies (n=2,430) and online adults who have purchased a good or service as a result of an e-mail communication from a company (n=909) is higher and varies. However that does not take other sources of error into account. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no theoretical sampling error can be calculated.