A new survey by Avast, the global leader in digital security and privacy protection, has revealed that Czechs are paying more attention to phishing attacks than last year and are actively fighting them. 51% of victims reported it to the police, employer, antivirus provider or other authorities. Last year, however, only 26% were attacked. The number of people who have encountered phishing has also increased - while last year 24% of us experienced a phishing attack, this year it is already 37%.
You might be interested in
“Globally, we are seeing a 24% increase in phishing in the last five months. In the Czech Republic, Avast blocked an average of 7400 malicious URL addresses per 100 inhabitants every month," explains Avast security expert Alexej Savčin. “Phishing is still one of the most common threats that people can encounter, so it is good that users are more cautious about it and self-report attacks to the appropriate authorities. This is the only way they can limit their spread or prevent anyone else from succumbing to them.”
Czechs and Czech women between the ages of 25 and 34 most often encounter phishing. Attacks usually take the form of email (82%), websites (25%), text messages (22%) or phone calls (16%). While women are more likely to fall for email phishing (in 70% of cases, men in 46%), phishing websites mainly deceive men (in 32% of cases, women in 11%).
People who have been victims of phishing report having to change their online account password (43%), loss of funds (22%), and identity theft (17%) as the most common consequences. The amount of money lost due to phishing has increased compared to last year. While last year it was amounts up to maxThe minimum amount is one thousand crowns, this year's losses most often range from two to five thousand crowns. The success rate in getting money back has also increased by five percent (34%), whether from the bank or directly from the attacker.
Not only are more victims reporting phishing attacks (51%), but so are those who only encounter phishing but do not fall for it (37%). Phishing victims most often report it directly to the police (38%) or to the organization the attacker is trying to impersonate (32%). Despite this, there are still those who choose not to report the scam, even after it has caused them damage. The most common reason they give is that they nestThey were not happy with the effort (38%), the stolen information was not of great value to them (33%), or they did not believe that the police or other organizations would be able to track down the attackers (24%).
You might be interested in
How to avoid phishing
- Look closely at the sender's address and phone number. Attackers usually use auto-generated email addresses or numbers that have nothing to do with the company they're pretending to be.
- Look out for grammatical errors, scattered formatting, or low-quality images. Fraudulent messages often use machine translation, which cannot cope well with the Czech language. This makes fraud easier to spot.
- If you feel that an email or SMS message looks suspicious, definitely do not click on any links, nestdownload attachments and do not reply. In addition, make sure you have installed strong antivirus protection, which can detect and block a phishing attack before it can reach your computer.chat damage.
- Don't trust offers that look too good. Also, keep an eye out for special offers, especially during discount periods, whether they come to you via email, text message or someone offers them to you over the phone. Take your time, carefully consider whether the offer is real, and if in any doubt, do not buy anything.
- Be wary of emails that try to instill fear. Some phishing attacks will try to tell you that your online account has been blocked, that you haven't paid your fees, or that someone tried to change your password. Pro To solve all these problems, you should supposedly click on the attached link. However, it is all just a game with your emotions in order to get valuable personal information from you.
