phishing - Internet Marketing News and Blogs

Brands that are adopted by phishers to hoodwink web users can have their reputation seriously damaged, according to a new study by YouGov.

Yet web users don’t point the finger at companies when it comes to protecting consumers against such attacks.

Unscrupulous advertisers have used Google AdWords banners in an attempt to obtain internet users' bank account details.

Exploit Prevention Labs, an internet security firm, found ads had been purchased against keyword search results like "betterbusinessbureau" that linked through to a spyware applet that would dupe users into entering account details into fake online banking pages.

Online fraud figures released yesterday by APACS, the UK payments association, show a 44% rise in online banking fraud last year.

Offline credit card fraud at UK retailers fell by 47% to a total of £72.1m, from 2005's figure of £135.9m, thanks largely to the introduction of chip and pin.

A poll conducted by RSA, the security division of EMC, suggests that online banking customers are becoming more concerned about security issues, and would like banks to take more steps to combat fraud.

RSA's Financial Institution Consumer Online Fraud Survey was conducted in December and polled 1,678 adults from the US, UK, Germany, France, Spain, Australia, Singapore and India.

In what is reported to be the biggest ever online 'heist', Swedish bank Nordea has lost up to $1.1 million (£570,000) to Russian organised criminal using a 'tailor made' Trojan.

Up to 250 of the bank's customers were duped by an email which purported to come from the bank, encouraging Nordea's customers to download a piece of anti-spam software.

Despite an increase in online shopping over the Christmas period, levels of online credit card fraud actually fell, according to anti-fraud organisation Early Warning.

Early Warning MD Andrew Goodwill puts the drop in fraud down to increased awareness by online retailers of the risk of card fraud, and the measures they have taken to combat fraud.

The Financial Services Authority has expressed its concern about the rise in phishing scams to a Lords Parliamentary sub-committee, claiming that such incidences are on the rise.

A spokesman from FSA’s Crime Team told the Lords that such attacks have risen by a staggering 8,000% over the past two years.

Of course this statistic merely reflects a rise in 'reported' incidents, which does necessarily paint a precise picture of what's going on.

Fearful of damaging their reputations and denting consumer confidence, online banks are hiding the true extent of online fraud, according to a senior police officer.

The Guardian reports that Detective Superintendent Russell Day told an all-party parliamentary group investigating online fraud that banks are failing to report instances of phishing and other forms of swinish behaviour.