NetNames Publishes Phishing Details

Domain registrar NetNames announced on Thursday it has published its Quarterly Fraud Report, which divulges that banking customers persist in facing mounting levels of online deception as phishing attacks drastically increase in early 2008. In February 2008 alone, there were over 60,000 phishing emails sent to customers of financial services organizations.

Conducted by NetNames’ sister company Envisional the report examined the amount of phishing emails sent to customers of major financial institutions during the period between the beginning of December 2007 and the end of February 2008.

The conclusion showed a 70 percent boost in phishing attacks between December 2007 and February 2008. The results reveal a radical turnaround in the online security of consumers as the second half of 2007 saw a significant decrease in phishing emails after high numbers in early 2007.

The report furthermore established that online thieves continue to target customers of particular organizations, specifically those in the financial sector. The top three ‘phished’ banks have increasingly become the focal point of most attacks, accounting for 77 percent of all phishing emails in December, 79 percent in January and 88 percent in February.

“Just as phishing seemed to have slipped off the consumer radar, online fraudsters have leapt on the chance to capitalize on this false sense of security and have increased their phishing activity drastically in the past few months,” says Jonathan Robinson, chief operating officer of NetNames. “Consumers must be aware of this renewed and increasing threat and make sure that they never give out personal details over email, and it is also crucial for the reputation of financial services organizations that they make their customers aware of and help protect them from these threats.”

NetNames released a report in January that revealed top US retailers are putting themselves at risk of brand damage online because of poor domain registration practices.