57 mln Americans received a phishing e-mail

A Gartner survey of 5,000 US adults showed that phishing attacks grew at double-digit rates last year in the United States. In the twelve months ending in May 2005, an estimated 73 mln US adults who use the Internet said they definitely, or think, they received an average of more than 50 phishing e-mails in the past year. The number of consumers receiving phishing attack e-mails increased 28% in the 12 months ended in May 2005 compared with 12 months ended in April 2004, according to the Gartner data. In last year's survey, an estimated 57 mln US adults reported that they definitely, or think, they received a phishing attack email. In both surveys, 5,000 participants were selected to match demographic characteristics of the US online population. 2.4 mln online consumers report losing money directly because of the phishing attacks. Of these, approximately 1.2 mln consumers lost $929 mln during the year preceding the survey. Survey participants indicated most of the money stolen was repaid by banks and credit cards.