Studies: Fraudsters going custom, taking on multiple fraud types

In their efforts to keep fooling consumers, fraudsters are customizing targeting tools. That's a key takeaway from Akamai's 2019 State of the Internet/Security Phishing report. Their data finds that cyber criminals are using phishing as a service (PaaS) tools and leveraging some big-name tech brands to continue their nefarious ways.

by Kristina Knight

Nearly half of phishers are targeting big-name brands like Microsoft, PayPal, and Dropbox finds new Akamai research. Their data shows that 21% of phishing domain attacks were targeted to Microsoft properties, 9% were targeted toward Paypal, and nearly 3% targeted toward Dropbox.

Researchers found that phishers are adding social media and other online options in their efforts to defraud consumers. Email has traditionally been how phishers try to gain access to consumer identity and banking information, but this new report finds they're now using social media and mobile devices to attempt to defraud consumers. One of the biggest issues is the Business Email Compromise scam, in which fraudsters target consumers' business - or work - emails. On a global scale, these attacks represent about $12 billion in losses from 2013 through 2018.

"Phishing is a long-term problem that we expect will have adversaries continuously going after consumers and businesses alike until personalized awareness training programs and layered defense techniques are put in place," said Martin McKeay, Editorial Director, State of the Internet/Security Report, Akamai. "As the phishing landscape continues to evolve, more techniques such as BEC attacks will develop, threatening a variety of industries across the globe. The style of phishing attacks is not one size fits all; therefore, companies will need to do due diligence to stay ahead of business-minded criminals looking to abuse their trust."

Other interesting findings from Akamai's 2019 State of the Internet/Security report include:

·         60% of phishing kits were active for 20 days or less
·         43% of all attacks were targeted to big brands like Microsoft and PayPal
·         BEC - Business Email Compromise - attacks account for $12 billion in losses

More data from the Akamai report can be accessed here.

Meanwhile, new data out from Sift finds that nearly half of fraudsters aren't only using one type of fraud. Their Fraud Aftershock Index finds that 45% of fraudsters are committing more than one type of fraud and that most (86%) are targeting more than one industry.

"Today's approaches of combating fraud are like rigid and invasive airport screenings," said Jason Tan, CEO, Sift. "With our Digital Trust & Safety Suite, businesses can apply Dynamic Friction across multiple types of fraud to deliver a customized experience, automatically letting legitimate customers through while maximizing fraud prevention."

More Sift data can be accessed here.

Tags: ad fraud, advertising data, Akamai, data fraud, ecommerce, ecommerce fraud, email, email fraud, mobile marketing, phishing trends, Sift