While $137 million isn't small potatoes, it's much lower than earlier estimates.

According to research and consulting firm TowerGroup, global losses from email phishing attacks will reach $137 million for 2004. That's a lot lower than an earlier survey from online privacy organization TRUSTean, that put phishing losses in the US alone at $500 million.

Phishing attacks--where someone receives a fraudulent email that appears to be from a legitimate business and requests personal information--don't fool as many people as they may have at one time. Even so, TowerGroup notes that they are becoming more sophisticated. "Not only has the quality of fake emails improved, but more effective targeting is increasing the efficiency of phishing attacks." While the company estimates that 2004 will see a total of 31,000 phishing attacks globally, it expects phishing expeditions to nearly triple in number next year.
Been phished lately?