UK phishing scams rise by 20 percent in 12 months
New figures released by Action Fraud suggest that phishing scams in the UK have grown by 21 percent over the past 12 months.
Action Fraud, which works closely with City of London Police and the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau, said that the number of reported phishing scams between November 2014 and October 2015 totalled 95,556.
Further research from the government-backed Get Safe Online revealed that 26 percent of victims surveyed had fallen prey to sophisticated social engineering techniques.
Social engineering takes many forms but is most common in emails, text messages and phone calls. Scammers can now use increasingly personal information from social media profiles to appear to be a trustworthy and convincing source.