Phishing is the most common method for scamsters to illegally siphon money from people. In simple terms, phishing is a method of scamming people by sending them emails pretending to be from reputable companies in order to get people to reveal their confidential information, such as passwords and credit card numbers.
A report has revealed that Apple is the most commonly impersonated brand name in phishing scams, followed by the leading OTT channel Netflix.
Apple Is The Most Chosen Brand For Phishing, Followed By Netflix, Yahoo, Whatsapp
A report by a cybersecurity firm, Check Point Research, has shown that Apple is the most chosen brand name for phishing scams in Quarter 1 of 2020. The other popular brands that people used for phishing were Netflix, Yahoo, and WhatsApp.
Additionally, the web is the most popular platform for cybercriminals, making up for 59% of the total. This is followed by mobile and cell phones, contributing to 23% of the phishing attacks.
Maya Horowitz, Director, Threat Intelligence & Research, Products at Check Point said that the threat of phishing will be growing in the coming months, especially now more than ever. The reason behind this is that scammers will continue to exploit the fears and needs of people using essential services from their homes. She has also encouraged users to be vigilant and cautious while sharing any personal and confidential information with anyone.
Horowitz said, “Cybercriminals continue to exploit users by adopting highly sophisticated phishing attempts via emails, web and mobile applications purporting to be from well-recognized brands which they know will be in high demand at the moment, whether that’s a high profile product launch or just generally tapping into behavioral changes we’ve seen during the coronavirus pandemic.”
Top phishing brands in Q1 2020
Here is a list of all the top brands that are ranked by their overall appearance in brand phishing attempts.
Apple (related to 10% of all brand phishing attempts globally)
Netflix (9%)
Yahoo (6%)
WhatsApp (6%)
PayPal (5%)
Chase (5%)
Facebook (3%)
Microsoft (3%)
eBay (3%)
Amazon (1%)
Email (18% of all phishing attacks during Q1)
Yahoo
Microsoft
Outlook
Amazon
Web (59% of all phishing attacks during Q1)
Apple
Netflix
PayPal
eBay
Mobile (23% of all phishing attacks during Q1)
Netflix
Apple
Chase
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