Phishing Sustains Near-Record Levels Through the First Half of 2021

Agari by Fortra features in APWG's Q2 Phishing Activity Trends Report.

Here are some highlights:

• APWG saw 222,127 attacks in June 2021, the third worst month in APWG’s reporting history.
• Financial institutions and social media sectors were the most frequently victimized.
• Increases in vishing and smishing continue to be observed. Vishing is phishing advertised via voice messages, and smishing is phishing advertised in SMS messages.
• APWG contributing member Agari by Fortra found that BEC scams are becoming even more costly for victims. Agari found that in wire transfer BEC attacks in Q2, the attackers asked for an average of $106,000, up from $48,000 a year before.
• In May 2021, Agari also found the percentage of payroll diversion BEC attacks surpassed wire transfer BEC attacks for the first time since September 2019.
• Phishers continue to deploy encryption to fool users into thinking that phishing sites are legitimate and safe.

For more details, read the full report or visit the APWG website.