"Reported Phishing Attacks Have Quintupled"

The third quarter of 2022 was the worst quarter for phishing ever observed by APWG, with 1,270,883 total attacks. The overall number of phishing sites in August 2022 was 430,141, the highest monthly total ever reported to APWG. Reported phishing attacks submitted to APWG have increased significantly since the first quarter of 2020, when APWG observed 230,554 attacks. The increase in the third quarter of 2022 was partially related to a rise in the number of attacks reported against certain targeted brands. These companies and their consumers were subjected to a substantial number of persistent phishing attacks. John Wilson, Senior Fellow of Threat Research at Fortra, observed that response-based email attacks increased by 488 percent in the third quarter of 2022 compared to the previous quarter. While every subcategory of these attacks grew compared to the second quarter, Advance Fee Fraud schemes climbed the most, reaching 1,074 percent. OpSec Security, a founding member of APWG, determined in the third quarter of 2022 that phishing attacks targeting the financial sector, which includes banks, remained the most prevalent, accounting for 23,2 percent of all phishing. Attacks against webmail and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) companies were also popular. The percentage of phishing attacks against social media services decreased from 15.3 percent to 11 percent. This article continues to discuss findings and observations from APWG regarding phishing attacks. 

Help Net Security reports "Reported Phishing Attacks Have Quintupled"