Largest increase in phishing

According to the Anti Phishing Working Group, "phishing" grew by a record 42% in January 2005 ­ the result of an increase of 12,845 new and unique phishing emails. The number of unique phishing websites also went up by 47% from 1,740 to 2,560, a doubling of figures from October 2004. Anti-spam service provider, OnlyMyEmail.com, suggests that phishing now makes up 0.58% of all spam email. "Phishing" is a means of identity theft using fake emails or websites to solicit details such as bank account numbers and other personal details from unsuspecting members of the public.