Internet scams getting banking users rise in June

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Online thieves are luring a growing number of Internet banking customers to fake Web sites in so-called "phishing" schemes intended to steal account information.

Phishing attacks, which rely on fraudulent e-mails to beckon people to seemingly authentic Web sites, surged 19 percent in June, according to a report to be released today.

The fast-growing scam may be more widespread than it appears because banks likely are not reporting all the attacks against consumers.

Phishing attacks rose to 1,422 in June, up from 1,197 in May, according to the Anti-Phishing Working Group, a nonprofit group tracking the online threat.

The increase means consumers who bank online remain vulnerable to phishing, and banks are struggling to stop it, said Jeff Ready, vice president of Tumbleweed Communications Corp., a Redwood City, Calif., software company that started the Anti-Phishing Working Group.

"People haven't yet come around to understand that there are these scams out there," he said.

Phishing attacks have risen precipitously since December, when just 116 attacks were initiated.

The number of phishing scams probably is even higher than figures from the Anti-Phishing Working Group indicate, said Mark Mendelsohn, senior counsel at the Justice Department's computer crimes and intellectual property section.

Some banks are hit by multiple phishing attacks each day.

"I know those aren't all being reported to law enforcement," Mr. Mendelsohn said.