Phishing attacks targeted at users who surf the web from their mobile devices are on the rise. Security firm Trend Micro reported identifying 4,000 phishing URLs designed for mobile web in 2012.
75% of the mobile phishing URLs documented last year led victims to malicious websites that replicated the ones of well-known financial institutions.
Phishing sites also replicated social media (2%) and online shopping websites (4%). In the case of social media sites, the number is significantly lower because most internauts access them from apps, not from their web browser.
The top 10 most targeted companies in 2012 were PayPal, Absa Internet Banking, Popular en linea, Mijn ICS, Barclays, Wells Fargo, eBay, Bank of America, the French Society of Radiotelephony (SFR), KBC Bank and Match.com.
Experts believe there are several reasons why cybercriminals have started targeting mobile device users more than they did before. That’s because it’s much more difficult to identify a fake site on smaller screens.
In addition, many users still don’t comprehend the fact that their mobile devices are exposed to the same threats as their desktop computers.
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