dc.contributor.advisor	Wilson Huang
dc.contributor.author	Atkins, Joshua Brandon
dc.date.accessioned	2011-05-04T18:32:31Z
dc.date.available	2011-05-04T18:32:31Z
dc.date.issued	2011-05-04
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10428/1004
dc.description.abstract	The amount of Internet fraud has grown exponentially over the last decade. Although computer security and criminal justice professionals have developed new technologies and tactics to fight the growing problem of Internet fraud, they cannot keep up with the rapidly growing advancements made by online scammers. The current study focuses on a psychological perspective known as social engineering which enables scammers to skillfully manipulate victims into an emotional state causing them to become vulnerable to victimization. This study assesses the nature of this type of criminal approach. The current content analysis involves a sample of 200 fraudulent e-mails related to phishing and advance fee scams. Using content analysis the researcher analyzed the persuasions techniques used in the different types of fraudulent e-mails, the ways in which persuasion techniques vary in types of deceptive e-mails. Findings revealed that authority, urgency, and politeness were the most occurring phishing persuasions; and authority, attraction/excitement, and politeness were the most commonly occurring advance fee scam persuasions. The study suggests that social engineers use statements in positive and negative manners, using authoritative and urgent persuasions causing innocent people to fall prey to financial losses. Since it is highly unlikely that online fraud will ever be completely eliminated, the most important thing that can be done to combat social engineering attacks is to educate the public on potential threats from hackers. For future studies in this area, it is suggested that researchers use face-to-face interviews to collect information from victims and to capture the voice of those victims that are afraid or embarrassed a survey may be the best instrument.	en_US
dc.language.iso	en_US	en_US
dc.subject	Internet	en_US
dc.subject	E-mail	en_US
dc.subject	Fraud	en_US
dc.title	Social Engineering through the Internet: Analysis of Persuasions Used in Fraudulent E-mails	en_US
dc.type	Thesis	en_US
dc.contributor.department	Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminal Justice
dc.description.degree	Master of Science in Criminal Justice