Phishers reel in big bucks

SAN FRANCISCO (10/12/04)--A recent study revealed that three-quarters of wired Americans detected an increase in phishing incidents during recent months, and one-third of users say they've received fraudulent e-mails at least once a week. The cost to consumers has been estimated at $500 million or more (CNETNews.comSept. 29).

Phishers send e-mails that appear to come from reliable companies to lure people to phony Web sites. The victims then are asked to give away sensitive personal information like their Social Security number or credit card data. Two percent of the 1,335 Internet users surveyed across the U.S. reported losing money, many times within two weeks of being phished.

The study--sponsored by Truste, a nonprofit privacy group, and NACHA, an electronic payments association--calculated losses at $500 million and reached that estimate by applying the survey's $115 average loss per victim to the general Internet population. The tally is for all phishing fraud to date, according to spokeswoman Carolyn Hodge. However, a Gartner study released in June estimated that a whopping $2.4 billion was lost to phishing scams over a 12-month period.

Most survey participants want companies to adopt new technologies to combat phishing scams by authenticating e-mails and Web sites. Spam prevention service and personal firewall software updates, released recently by McAfee Inc., will help protect computer users from phishers.

  Resource Link
Statement Stuffer: ID Theft: How to Prevent It and How to Get Over It


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