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PayPal, eBay Victims of Majority Phising Emails

By Sophia Mayengbam

Users of PayPal and eBay are the main targets of more than 75 percent of all email phising, revealed a recent research by information technology security firm Sophos.

Phising emails point recipients to a bogus website that look like the real PayPal or the eBay site.

By misdirecting the users to the forged website, the fraudsters steal usernames and passwords of the users. These information could be used to commit crimes such as identity fraud, leaving victims with a financial burden.

PayPal users have been most at risk, revealed experts at SophosLabs, which scanned all phishing email messages received in the company's global network of spam traps during 2006. Sophos said 54.3 percent phising emails have been directed to steal information from users of PayPal. The second most common targets, at 20.9%, were users of the eBay online auction service, the study finds.

The Sophos study indicated that these two sites are targeted primarily because of their popularity and large customer bases.

"The reason why the phishers focus so much on PayPal and eBay is because they are so popular around the world. Although bank customers do also suffer from phishing attacks, they tend to be less likely to have the global reach that these net giants have," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos.

Sophos said that the effort from the service provider is not enough to ward off these security threats; the users need to be alert and be savvy about the latest security threats to be able to fully utilise the facilities of these services.

"PayPal and eBay have worked hard to educate and protect their customers from these kind of attacks, but the best solution is for computer users to be more savvy about securing their identity in the first place, and think before they click," advises Cluley.

Research issued earlier this year by Sophos revealed that 58% of people receive at least one phishing email every day. Sophos recommends that companies protect their computers with a consolidated solution to defend against spam, spyware and viruses.

According to experts phishing attacks are slowing down and are more becoming targeted on specific victims like PayPal and eBay users, and customers at specific financial service institutions.

In June Netcraft issued a report that a security flaw in the PayPal web site is being actively exploited by fraudsters to steal credit card numbers and other personal information belonging to PayPal users.


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