Phishing has become one of the most common forms of online crime in recent years and the statistics are staggering. According to Wikipedia:

It is estimated that between May 2004 and May 2005, approximately 1.2 million computer users in the United States suffered losses caused by phishing, totaling approximately $929 million USD. U.S. businesses lose an estimated $2 billion USD a year as their clients become victims.[28] In the United Kingdom losses from web banking fraud — mostly from phishing — almost doubled to £23.2m in 2005, from £12.2m in 2004, while 1 in 20 users claimed to have lost out to phishing in 2005.

A group called PhishTank are trying to help out by getting people who have discovered websites that are phishing to submit them to their website. They then have these sites verified and add them to their list.

They have also developed a Firefox add-on which will notify the user if they are going to a website that is suspected of phishing so that the user does not go to the site. The add-on is completely customizable.

I have installed this add-on in Firefox but I have yet to see it in action (I think I am pretty savvy at spotting these phishing scams) but it is definitely going on all the systems that my family uses!

If you found this post useful, why don't you buy me a cup of coffee to show your gratitude?