UK phishing attacks double

By Dave Nixon

Phishing attacks on UK customers have more than doubled for the first quarter of this year, according to Apacs, the UK payment association.

Apacs recorded more than 10,000 reported phishing incidents in the first quarter of 2008, in excess of 200 percent up from the same period last year.

Online banking victims due to fraud have decreased by one-third from £33.5m in 2006 to £22.6m in 2007, Apacs said, but efforts to defraud users have climbed progressively.

The number of recorded phishing incidents for the first quarter of 2007 was 3,394, an increase from 2,369 in the first quarter of 2006.

There are, disgracefully, no consistent figures for cybercrime in the UK, partly owing to the lack of a centralised Internet law-enforcement body - the National High-Tech Crime Unit having been folded into the Serious Organised Crime Agency in 2006.

The striking rise in phishing figures could also be due to increased consciousness on the part of users.

Certainly, Apacs found verification that users are becoming rather more sophisticated with regard to phishing attacks: the proportion of phishing targets either deleting phishing messages or taking no action over them increased from 75 percent in 2006 to 82 percent last year.

Apacs found that 93 percent of users now have anti-virus software installed, but this figure falls to 71 percent for anti-spyware software.

David Cresswell, the Financial Ombudsman, said it has noted a considerable spike in consumer concerns over phishing in recent months - which is an additional sign that, at least, users are growing more aware of the problem.