Slam the Online Scam – Online Threat Protection

STATISTICS

Mobile phone accounts accounted for nearly a third (29%) of fraudulent accounts opened in 2009. (Javelin Strategy & Research)
Consumers who discover fraud electronically — by reviewing electronic statements and account alerts — spend less time and money to recoup their losses. Those alerts, particularly when synced with a mobile device, let consumers review and report identity fraud in near-real-time, which can result in lower victim costs and faster detection times. (Javelin Strategy & Research)
Mobile telephone service accounts created using stolen identities accounted for roughly 30% of such activity. (Javelin Strategy & Research)
Online crime has increased 600% in 2009. (Anti Phishing Working Group)
The number of unique phishing websites detected in June, 2009 rose to 49,084, which is the highest since April, 2007's record of 55,643. (Anti Phishing Working Group)
In November 2009, smart phones totaled 29 million in the U.S., or 12.5% of all handsets in use. (comScore, Inc.)
Mobile cybercrime is anticipated to increase and effectiveness of traditional anti-fraud tactics is anticipated to decrease in 2010, particularly attributed to the increase in the adoption of new smartphones and multiple operating systems. (41st Parameter)
Unsecured online transactions were responsible for fewer than 2.5% of identity theft cases. (Javelin Strategy & Research)
Approximately nine out of every 10 emails are spam and there is no indication that the spam problem will ever be solved. (SC Magazine)
In 2009, the number of identity fraud incidents increased by 12% over 2008, reaching the highest level since 2003. (Javelin Strategy & Research)
29% of victims reported that new mobile phone accounts were fraudulently opened. (Javelin Strategy & Research)
Since 2008, the cost of sending an SMS message in the U.S. dropped by 99%, resulting in attractive margins for spammers. (Nielsen Mobile)
As of April, 2009, spammers are seeing an eight-fold return on spam messages sent. (Cloudmark Research)
100% of the top 12 mobile operators in Europe anticipate that mobile spam volumes will rise; however, 83% do not have a filtering system in place to protect customers. (Cloudmark Research)
44% of wireless customers are reporting that they have received mobile spam. Most of those who receive spam (95%) are ignoring or deleting spam messages, which could potentially impact the effectiveness of mobile marketing initiatives. (Harris Interactive)
4.8% of the U.S. population was affected by identity theft in 2009. The number of victims in the U.S. increased 12% to 11.1 million adults in 2009, while the total annual fraud amount increased by 12.5% to $54 billion. (Javelin Strategy & Research)
The number of victims of identity theft increased 22% in 2008 compared to the previous year; more than 9 million people were impacted and the average cost per incident was $500. (Javelin Strategy & Research)
Nearly two thirds (65%) of mobile-device owners are concerned about the security of their device, and this anxiety is preventing half of them from conducting financial and shopping transactions via mobile
Respondents who are concerned about mobile security have overall lower response rates for internet browsing (31%), visiting social networks (28%), and emailing (26%)
Mobile spam has established a highly visible presence on networks, with 44% of owners indicating that they have received spam on their mobile device, the survey found
Device owners who have received mobile spam report the following as the most common types of mobile spam:
- Messages asking them to call another number (45%)
- Messages containing a link to another website (42%)
- Phishing messages encouraging them to disclose of personal information (29%)
- Messages from a person or entity posing as a trusted contact/source (24%)
Identity theft has become more prevalent, with nearly 10 million American victims losing $48 billion in 2008
The number of victims rose 22% to a record 9.9 million in 2008 from 8.1 million a year earlier, with about one in 23 U.S. adults becoming victims
Women are 26% more likely to be fraud victims than men
Fraud rate is highest among people 35 to 44 years old
Identity theft has become more prevalent, with nearly 10 million American victims losing $48 billion in 2008
The number of victims rose 22% to a record 9.9 million in 2008 from 8.1 million a year earlier, with about one in 23 U.S. adults becoming victims
Women are 26% more likely to be fraud victims than men
Fraud rate is highest among people 35 to 44 years old
Image attachment spam picked up momentum in June 2009, at more than 80 million
The most common image attachment in June 2009 was .jpg, followed by .gif and .png
Spam messages accounted for slightly below 96% of total mails during June 2009
7.5% of U.S. adults lost out financially as a result of fraud last year
The fear of having personal data stolen is causing changes in online behavior; 59% say they have changed their online shopping activity
71% are more cautious about where they shop online
67% are more attentive about providing financial and personal information to websites
28% abandon a purchase if they are redirected to another site on which to enter payment information
Over 500 organizations worldwide were phished in the first quarter of 2009, up 14 percent from the fourth quarter of 2008
Over 40% of all phishing attacks in Q1 were against payment service providers
There were 10,000 phishing attacks financial brands in the first quarter of 2009
Phishing attacks on payment services jumped a whopping 285% over the first quarter of 2008
Phishing attacks on social networking sites increased over 240% over the same time in 2008
Phishing attacks rose 36% in the first quarter of 2009 over the same period in 2008
88% of Web users in the United States are at risk from online fraud because they can't identify the different forms of phishing currently happening online
9 out of 10 people in the U.S. are vulnerable to phishing scams
18-24 year olds are the least likely age group to identify a phishing site
In the second half of 2008, roughly 57,000 phishing attacks worldwide targeted a specific brand or organization, up from around 47,3000 in the first half of 2008
10 million Americans a year fall victim to identity theft
Over 40% of all teenagers with Internet access have reported being bullied online during the past year
The average amount of time a phishing site was up: 52 hours
Phishers used their own malicious domains in 13% of attacks
Around 6,340 subdomain accounts were used for phishing purposes in the second half of 2008, up from 4,512 in the first half of the year
One in five online consumers have been victims of cybercrime in the last two years to the tune of an estimated $8 billion.
13 percent of social-network users experienced some form of abuse.
1.2 million consumers have had to replace their computers over the past two years due to software infections and an estimated 3.7 million households with broadband Internet access did not use a firewall to protect against hackers.
Total damage to U.S. consumers through phishing attacks works out to about $483 million.
545,000 households had to replace computers in the past six months and one in 12 people had serious problems with spyware.
1.7 million households were victims of ID theft committed over the Internet in the past year, of those two-thirds said the incident occurred because of an online purchase.
The internet click fraud rate hit a record level of 17.1% in Q408 and click fraud traffic from botnets surged to an all-time high of 31.4%
Click fraud traffic from botnets was responsible for 31.4% of all click fraud traffic in Q408. This is up from 27.6% in Q308 and 22.0% in Q407.
In 2008, there were at least 47,324 phishing attacks.
The attacks occurred on 26,678 unique domain names.1 This is slightly down from 2H2007, when 28,818 domain names were used.
Phish were found on 3,389 unique IP addresses, rather than on domain names.