The Fraudster Economy Model: The Dynamics of Operating a Business in the Underground

Phishing first gained traction in 1996 with hackers trying to steal America Online passwords from unsuspecting users. Today, it has evolved into a far more menacing criminal enterprise, with bands of fraudsters working together to create schemes that dupe unsuspecting online users into divulging personal details - most often, their online banking credentials. And while the complexity and sophistication of phishing attacks grows, even more alarming are their numbers. According to Microsoft, 31.6 million phishing scams were identified in the first half of 2007 - marking an increase of more than 150 percent over the previous six months.