ClearMyMail And The Banking Spam Index
If ever there was an index which the banks did not wish to come top of, this is the one!
In a report released by anti-spam company ClearMyMail, it appears that during the first quarter of 2008 Abbey was the target of 32.99% of all Phishing attacks in the UK. For those not aware of the phrase, Phishing is the illegal act whereby third parties will trick internet users into downloading spyware and / or entering data on fake websites. The data is then used to clear bank accounts, take out credit cards, etc.
While Abbey were number one, Citi Bank (the owner of Egg) came in at number two with 19.15% of all Phishing emails. The remainder of the top ten consists of NatWest, Halifax, PayPal, HSBC, Lloyds TSB, RBS, Nationwide and MBNA. So what exactly does this mean?
The moral of this story is that all internet users need to be very wary of the emails which they are opening. Just because a bank does not appear in ten top ten list does not mean that it is not being targeted by the scammers. While Abbey is top of the hit list now, the fact that we saw emails to Halifax rise ten times between the last quarter of 2007 and the first three months of 2008 says it all.
Be very wary of unsolicitored financial emails!
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