Saturday, December 16, 2006

Phishing Up

Cases of phishing in the UK have soared although it remains a minor problem

 

UK incidents of phishing scams have grown 8,000 per cent over the last two years, according to the government's financial watchdog authority. Although losses remain modest compared to other forms of financial fraud, banking security experts speaking before the House of Lords science and technology committee are concerned about the growing prevalence of scams designed to trick consumers into handing over online banking credentials.

Rob Gruppetta, of the Financial Services Authority (FSA) financial crime team, told the parliamentary committee, "We are very concerned about the rate of increase. It has gone up by 8,000 per cent in the past two years. But in the grand scheme of total fraud it is still quite small," he added.

Judging by the number of phishing attempts that come into my email box (7 so far today) they must be making decent money when they actually manage it.

 

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