I have absolutely no sympathy for anyone who is stupid enough to respond to such an e-mail inquiry. I actually hold such people in contempt. If they are stupid enough to fall for that, what other stupidities might they engage in that, perhaps, endanger people. Do they drive, plug in electrical appliances, input to databases, operate on people? Who knows how their stupidity has or might affect others.

I am surprised that your daughter even opened the link. It could have contained a virus at the very least. I'll tell you how careful I am. I got an e-mail from my boss yesterday about a former student. I don't have to open the e-mail to view it. Its content appears on my screen. There was something about it that made me hesitate to open and reply to it. So, I called my boss to verify that he had sent it. Indeed he had.

I think the people who just open any e-mails they get or respond to these stupid requests for personal information are similar to alot of the people you see on cell phones. They use e-mails and cell phones to plug holes in their self-esteem, to make themselves feel important, or just to have something to do. It's like overeating - you're not really hungry; you just eat because it feels good. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!