Overall, spam made up 89.40% of all messages in September, compared with 92.51% in August. This is the lowest volumes recorded since the McColo shutdown in 2008. Two possible explanations for this drop in volume are the shutdown of spamit.com and the Zeus ring arrests made recently. However, if the aftermath of McColo shutdown is any indication, the volume should gradually return over time.
Phishing increased by 52% in September. This increase was primarily due to an increase in both automated toolkit attacks and unique phishing websites. Phishing websites created by automated toolkits (which make it easier to set up a phishing distribution network with limited technical knowledge) increased by 46%.
The following trends are also highlighted in the September 2010 report:
- Gold spam on the rise – during the last week of September, the number of spam messages related to gold nearly doubled from volume seen during the last week of August. As gold prices continue to go up, spammers will continue to send bogus offers
- Social media phishing attacks still popular – in September 2010, phishing on social media comprised of about two percent of all phishing. Fraudsters used baits such as gaming applications and pornography to lure customers in to giving away their sensitive information.