‘The Internet is full of lies’. To me, this seems like common knowledge. It’s a logical statement given the anonymity that’s possible within the World Wide Web. But to those who haven’t been brought up immersed in internet culture, traps and lies they come across while online may seem entirely plausible.

In the last two months, my Gran has printed out at least 5 scam emails and asked me to confirm their validity. She’s had the ‘our distant relative left you something in their will’ email, as well as the ‘you’ve won a million dollars in a British lottery’ email. Every time she brings me one of these emails I just shake my head with exasperation. I wonder how anyone, especially someone as intelligent as my Gran, can fall for this stuff.

But I fail to remember that the internet is new to her. She hasn’t been online since childhood. She may be intelligent and generally astute, but when it comes to the internet, she is still learning. At while I may be frustrated when she shows me, yet again, another spam email, I just need to remember this. I think we all need to remember this.