3.2 Billion Dollars Lost to Phishing in 2007

mrneutron2003 brings us FastSilicon's summary of a Gartner survey which found that 3.2 billion dollars were lost in 2007 to phishing scams. "Gartner's latest survey into the realm of phishing attacks paints a rather bleak picture for 2007, with a record estimated loss of $3.2 Billion (that's Billion, with a B) U.S. Dollars. Overall loss per incident fell (to $886 from $1,244 lost on average in 2006) but the numbers of individuals who fell victim rose quite sharply from 2.3 Million in 2006 to a staggering 3.6 Million. Though online portals Paypal and eBay remained the most spoofed brands, it appears phishers are getting more creative utilizing fake electronic greetings cards, foreign businesses, and charitable organizations in their attacks on consumers. Furthermore these criminals are increasingly targeting debit card and banking credentials rather than credit cards, because the fraud protection mechanisms there are far weaker, according to a study done at The University of California at Berkeley.

One person's loss is another's gain

[lecithin]

$3,200,000,000 isn't chump change. This is an organized effort.

Are these people that good? Is it that hard to follow the trail?

Do the companies care that their consumers are being duped?

No. Really. Have you ever hit up paypal or ebay regarding a fraudulent transaction? Nothing usually ever comes of it. Why think that they will change now?

Re:One person's loss is another's gain

[tha_mink]

No. Really. Have you ever hit up paypal or ebay regarding a fraudulent transaction? Nothing usually ever comes of it. Why think that they will change now?

No, it's just that people are THAT stupid. If you're stupid enough to follow these phishing deals, then you get what you deserve. It's akin to walking down to and asking people where you can buy a nice and handing them your wallet. If you don't know HOW to distinguish genuine emails from from a phishing attack, then you should put your credit card away, step away from the computer, get in your car, and go shopping at the mall like the olden days. To an extent, the banks and businesses can do a better job, but it falls on the consumer to act responsibly with their money and information.

Re:Wow, that's a lot of money! NOT.

[JasterBobaMereel]

That is if you trust this figure.... ... Gartner is not the most relaible source, and how did they come up with this estimate, when the victims mostly will not tell people they were scammed, and the banks will not release their losses ...

How about some unbiased journalism?

[Mike Morgan]

Gartner's wording shows a definite bias against those using alternative income techniques. Here's another way to read their summary:

"Gartner's latest survey into the realm of phishing shows increased income for 2007, with record revenue of $3.2 Billion (that's Billion, with a B) U.S. Dollars. Overall income per incident fell (to $886 from $1,244 made on average in 2006) but the numbers of individuals who subscribed rose quite sharply from 2.3 Million in 2006 to an impressive 3.6 Million. Though online portals Paypal and eBay remained the most useful brands, it appears phishing entrepreneurs are getting more creative utilizing fake electronic greetings cards, foreign businesses, and charitable organizations in their portfolio of profit generating techniques. Furthermore these budding corporate executives are increasingly taking interest in debit card and banking credentials rather than credit cards, because the alternative income technique protection mechanisms there are far weaker, according to a study done at The University of California at Berkeley."

</sarcasm>