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| 21-year-old man is the first to be arrested in
the UK for suspected "phishing" |
British police have arrested a 21-year-old man for "phishing" in
what is said to be the first case of if its kind in the UK.
The man, from Lytham St Anne's, Lancashire, was questioned in
connection with an incident designed to steal account details from
users of the Smile online internet bank. Smile informed the
National Hi-Tech Crime Unit (NHTCU) of the fraudulent email,
directing users to a bogus website, in March.
"There has been a steady increase in "phishing" attacks where
criminals attempts to steal bank account information from innocent
computer users. "Phishers" have spammed out messages asking users
to enter their passwords, PIN and credit card numbers on websites
cunningly disguised to look like a genuine internet bank." said
Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos. "If they
don't take proper precautions, innocent users can find their online
bank accounts have been plundered by criminals."
Other "phishing" attempts have included bogus emails claiming to
come from a number of banks including Wells Fargo, Nationwide,
NatWest, Barclays, Westpac and Halifax.
"The people behind these emails are common criminals, intent on
stealing your cash," continued Cluley. "Any user who receives a
bogus bank email should inform the bank immediately so that they
and the legal authorities can investigate."
A spokeswoman from the National Hi-Tech Crime Unit has said that
PCs belonging to the man are being examined by computer forensic
experts. The man, who is unemployed, has been released on bail
until August.
More than 100 million users in 150 countries rely on Sophos as the best protection against complex threats and data loss. Sophos is committed to providing security and data protection solutions that are simple to manage, deploy and use and that deliver the industry's lowest total cost of ownership. Sophos offers award-winning encryption, endpoint security, web, email, and network access control solutions backed by SophosLabs - a global network of threat intelligence centers. With more than two decades of experience, Sophos is regarded as a leader in security and data protection by top analyst firms and has received many industry awards.
Sophos is headquartered in Boston, US and Oxford, UK. More information is available at www.sophos.com.