E-mail phishing attacks in Singapore remain to be a major concern as 55% (852,823) of the 1.556 million phishing emails thwarted in 2022 were targeted at businesses, said Kaspersky recently.
Scammers looked to trick employees with fraudulent e-mails typically linked to corporate issues and delivery problem notifications, Kaspersky pointed out.
In Southeast Asia, there were 43.44 million phishing attacks in the same year, Kaspersky noted.
The number represents the malicious mailings blocked by Kaspersky Anti-Phishing system for both individual and enterprise users, the firm added.
At the end of last year, the Singapore Police Force issued an advisory on the re-emergence of phishing scams involving e-mails purportedly sent from Singapore Post (SingPost) and Singtel with a fraudulent URL link embedded, according to the firm.
Between January and November 2022, at least 85 victims had fallen prey to such e-mail phishing attacks in Singapore, with total losses amounting to at least $237,000, according to the advisory issued by the Singapore Police Force.
In addition, scam e-mails impersonating the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) were also reported in May this year, said Kaspersky, adding that the e-mails claimed that victims were under investigation for incorrect tax filing, and those who clicked on the fraudulent link within the e-mails were led to a spoofed IRAS website which would phish personal details, such as password and account number, to be used for identity fraud.
“Most cyberattacks begin with a phishing email to an unsuspecting victim, and anyone who uses e-mail can be a target for phishing scammers. These attacks have grown more sophisticated over time, with threat actors finding ways to tailor their scams and give very convincing messages than can easily trip people up,” said Adrian Hia, Managing Director for Asia Pacific at Kaspersky.
