01 Feb 2010

Businesses 'could be at risk from fraudsters'

Firms across the UK have been warned there is a growing threat from phishing scams that could impact on their profitability and performance.

Alan Phillips, chief executive officer of 7Safe, said there has been a rise in the number of malicious emails that are being circulated at present and as a result, it is important staff are made aware of the impact of falling foul of fraudsters.

He commented: "It is common sense to be cautious about releasing any personal financial information on the internet. Of course, victims of phishing attacks think that they are providing information to a legitimate source, such as their own bank."

According to figures from Network Box, Brazil is the country where most of these scams have been found to originate from in the last month, with 15.7 per cent of all viruses being sent from the South American country in January.

Furthermore, the company noted that more than half (55.59 per cent) of all malware sent via email is an attempted phishing scam.