Gone Phishing

Fraudsters are using increasingly more sophisticated methods to carry out phishing scams, it has been reported.

Research by Network Box (network-box.co.uk) has revealed that over half of all malware (software developed for the purpose of causing harm to a computer system) sent by email is an attempted phishing expedition (the criminally fraudulent process of attempting to acquire sensitive information such as usernames).

The report suggested that phishing attacks soared before Christmas to 57 per cent of malware, as criminals attempted to exploit the number of people shopping online. “However, the numbers have stayed at a similarly high level through January”, Network Box said. It claimed that fraudster’s methods are becoming more and more convincing. In the early days of phishing, attacks were littered with poor spelling and grammar and not-so-realistic web sites but as users have become more savvy then fraudsters have had to up their game.

APA encourages everyone to be extremely cautious about giving out their personal details or responding to suspicious emails.

APA