An estimated 57 million American adults have received e-mails from "phishers" –- cyberthieves who pretend to be service providers, such as banks, to steal account information -- according to a new survey by
Gartner.
More than 30 million people were "absolutely sure" they were victims of a phishing  attack and another 27 million thought they had received what "looked like" a phishing ploy, says Gartner. Just 49 million of the 141 million online consumers have not experienced one, Gartner estimates.
Gartner extrapolated these figures from a survey of 5,000 online adults. Based on the sample, the analyst firm believes nearly 11 million online adults, or 19 percent of those attacked, have clicked on a phishing link. It also believes that at least one million more people have fallen for such schemes without realizing it.
The most tangible evidence of phishing activities, though, is measured in actual loss: Last year, identity theft fraud from phishing attacks cost U.S. banks and credit card issuers US$1.2 billion, Gartner says.
No Wonder
These findings no doubt come as little surprise to consumer advocates. Such fraudulent ploys are just an online variation of age-old scams to raid an unsuspecting victim's bank account or gain access to his credit. Phishing ups the strike capability of such scoundrels, though, exponentially increasing the number of potential victims affected by the click of a mouse.
Indeed, phishing is one of the most economical fraud schemes around, because it entails a low risk of getting caught while offering a very high reward, says Naftali Bennet, CEO of Cyota, an anti-fraud and antivirus software provider. And as e-mail marketers will tell you, contacting people via mass e-mail is about the cheapest form of communication around.
Slowing E-commerce Growth
Even worse, the quality of the phishing is improving, Bennet tells NewsFactor. "Today's phishing attacks mimic the actual Web sites."
This may be because an increasing number of the perpetrators are organized crime groups that recognize a low-risk, high-reward criminal opportunity when they see it.
Phishing is becoming a serious matter, Gartner says, not only because of the trouble it causes consumers, but also because it has the potential to slow the double-digit expansion of e-commerce. "The rise in phishing attacks is threatening consumer confidence as never before," Gartner says.
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