Phishing net – the rise and evolution of online fraud scams

Contrary to what one might think, the term ‘phishing’ has been around for many years - it was originally coined to describe attempts at identity theft that were conducted over the telephone. Naturally, however, fraudsters were quick to realise the potential of the Internet as a medium for their scamming operations, and it has now become synonymous with the spreading epidemic of email-borne fraud and identity theft. Mark Sunner , Chief Technology Officer, MessageLabs examines the dynamic threat.

Mark Sunner is Chief Technology Officer at MessageLabs, which provides managed email security services to business worldwide. Contact: www.messagelabs.com or tel:+44 (0)1452 627627.

A numbers game

In phishing attacks, (Internet) scammers use (email) bait to “fish” for personal and security details from the sea of unsuspecting Internet users.