A family member just called me: Her e-mail account at GMX (German e-mail provider) would be closed by tommorow, unless she untertook certain steps. She didn't know what to do about this - I think she had trouble opening the password-protected attachment - so that is why she called me.

What really concerns me here is that people like her, with years of experience with computers, still fall for those tricks. The basic problem seems to be one of trust: it seems that if you don't maintain a permanent sceptical attitude while reviewing your e-mail, if you don't continually remind yourself that forgeries, viruses, etc., do occur, you might easily believe anything that is sent to you, which sounds more or less reasonable - and overlook some discrepancies (for example: GMX in particular will not write in English; an e-mail provider will not send e-mails with attachments; an e-mail provider will not send an important e-mail with obvious errors in English).