Phishing attacks up 50% in January

Attempted email fraud and phishing attacks went up 50% in January compared to the month before. There were an average of 5.7 new and unique phishing attacks each day in January, according to research by the Anti-Phishing Working Group. There were 176 unique attacks in January, of which only 13.6% were 'repeats'. eBay was the most targeted company with 51 different emails purporting to come from the online auction house. Citibank and AOL were next with 35 and 34 attacks each. Financial services account for 40% of attacks; 34% appear to come from retailers; and 24% from ISPs.