Jump in the level of phishing attacks
September 19, 2008
Over recent years online banking fraud has become a big problem in the UK with fraudsters using increasingly sophisticated and convincing methods to try and extract account details from unsuspecting consumers. One such method is known as phishing, and this is where the fraudster sends out an email claiming to be from the bank, which also has a link. When the consumer enters the bank’s website through the link and enters the bank account details he or she has literally just handed the details to the fraudster, as the website is a fake one, even though it may look like the bank website.
Worryingly, according to a recent report the number phishing attacks on consumers in the UK has jumped, with an increase in the number of fraudsters trying to obtain customers’ bank account details. The information comes from the payment clearance agency APACS, which claims that in the first six months of the year there were around twenty one thousand cases of phishing fraud relating to building societies and banks, which was a rise of a massive 180% compared to the first six months of last year.
An official from APACS said: “In the future we expect more and more people to use online banking to make payments rather than just checking balances, particularly in light of the recent introduction of the new faster payments service. However, we strongly urge banking customers to make sure they remain wary of online scams such as unsolicited e-mails claiming to be from their bank.”
With around twenty one million consumers now using some form of online banking service industry officials are expecting phishing attack figures to keep on rising, although banks have been trying to take measures to protect their customers such as sending out card readers for when online card transactions are made.
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