Phishing Sites Hit Record Numbers

Phishers targeted 154 different brands in July, a 20 percent increase from June and 12 percent higher than the previous record, the Anti-Phishing Working Group said Monday. There was some good news in the report, however, as the overall number of campaigns launched decreased to 23,670 - down almost 5,000 from the previous month. But the overall number of phishing sites increased to 14,191, also a new record.

"Criminals are spoofing the brands of smaller financial institutions, ISPs and even government agencies in an attempt to steal consumers' identity information and account passwords," APWG Chairman Dave Jevans said. "Combined with ever increasing technical sophistication, the fact is that nobody is immune from possible attack."