The volume and severity of phishing scams is rocketing as cyber-criminals become ever more cunning and sophisticated.

The online scams attempt to trick unwary surfers into divulging sensitive and confidential information to bogus websites designed to appear as bona fide businesses such as internet banking sites.

These fraudsters have in recent months begun to refine their attack methodologies with the use of automated hacking tools such as bot nets that can vastly increase the potency of their campaigns.

According to recently unveiled research, the number of such attacks against global financial institutions rocketed by 568 per cent between June and the end of October 2004.

This increase shows no sign of slowing in the near future, and there is no credible evidence to suggest that the recent 'hockey stick' growth trend in attacks over the past few months will abate.

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