I think this book really should be a must read for anyone who in online. Internet security is a big problem, and as truly unpleasant as spam is, as malware is, as viruses are... they are NOTHING in comparison to identity theft and to internet cons that drain bank accounts.
According to the first chapter there are ten million americans scammed and swindled every year. That number is staggering to me. To put it into perspective... there are 120 countries on the earth that have less people in their borders than the number of people swindled in America every year. Portugal. Sweden. Switzerland. The Domincan Republic. Chad. Finland and Norway combined. There are more people swindled in America than even live in the countries that I just named. That is insane.
Here are the things I liked about this book and why I think it should be read:
1. It is an easy to read writing style. Not too techy. Not too legalese.
2. It tells about real life stories. Not just hypothetical scenarios. Lots of actual cases of scams and swindles.
3. It gets the information and advice and perspective from not just the law enforcement involved, but from the victims and from the actual con artists.
4. It breaks the scams down step by step, including the variations, and shows how to know when you are being scammed.
Internet security is so important in this day and age of identity theft, internet cons, and hacking of personal information. There is only so much that software can do to protect us. Frankly, we have to be knowledgeable and protect ourselves.