It appears that online scammers were phishing with a trawling net as a new report shows that attacks were up 43pc worldwide in June compared with the previous month.
Published by RSA, the security division of EMC, the report reveals the US is responsible for the most attacks and is the most attacked nation on the planet.
According to its figures, 57pc of all recorded phishing attacks were targeted at the US while it was also the source of 43pc of attacks.
In comparison, Germany has been found to be both the recipient of 7pc of attacks and orchestrators of 7pc of attacks.
The most popular reason for phishing attacks is related to e-commerce, with airlines in particular accounting for 46pc of all attack targets, followed by money transfer services (16pc) and computer and electronics retailers (13pc).
On average, it is estimated a fraudulent purchaser will spend a significantly higher amount in an e-commerce transaction than a legitimate purchaser, with the typical online transaction for jewelry being €230, while the average fraudulent purchase is four times higher, at €970.
Phishing as a tool for scamming online has shown no signs of waning, with a report compiled by AWPG looking at 2013 showed that for the whole of the year, a total of 115,565 attacks were recorded with a 60pc rise from the first half of 2013, compared with the second.
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