via This Is Money
- Cybercrime report reveals 421% growth in password reset scams in 2023
A password reset scam now happens every seven minutes, and fraudsters are targeting vulnerable users, including the elderly.
A new report by LexisNexis Risk Solutions reveals that 70,000 password reset attacks happen each week and some users are more at risk than others.
There was a 421 per cent year-on-year growth in attacks using password phishing scams, which trick consumers into sharing their personal and financial information.
Fraudsters rely on the fact that consumers often receive password reset emails and they disguise themselves as legitimate senders.
They will then send an email demanding a password reset for an account with a link to a realistic-looking, but fake copy of the website, after which they’ll steal your information.
If fraudsters are successful, they can change details like passwords and phone numbers, locking the genuine user out of their account.
Ecommerce, media streaming services and mobile services are among those most commonly targeted, with the information obtained then used for a variety of frauds.
Instances of these ‘detail change’ attempts rose 232 per cent globally last year.
The report also reveals that some users are more at risk than others, particularly the elderly and those who struggle to use their phones.
A quarter of password reset attempts made via desktop web browsers are fraudulent, with attack rates 50 times higher than those using their mobile.
The growing sophistication of technology and AI in scams has translated into a 1,680 per cent year-on-year increase in the use of bots by criminals, which can automate attacks at high speed and volume.
Rob Woods, director of fraud and identity strategy at LexisNexis Risk Solutions, said: ‘Switching on extra security measures such as two factor authentication, as well as utilising the security measures built into mobile apps are easy and yet highly effective ways for the public to protect themselves from password reset attacks.
‘Their five-fold rise reflects the vast improvements banks have made in account security, forcing fraudsters to prey on human error instead.’
Despite the increase in password reset scams, there has been an overall decline in human (-14 per cent) and bot attack volumes (-29 per cent), compared to rises in other regions.
Globally, scams initiated by humans are up 19 per cent, with an 8 per cent increase in attacks on financial services, and 59 per cent rise in e-commerce scams.
Unlike passport reset scams, just one in five scams now happen via desktop browser, with the vast majority of fraud – 79 per cent – now happening on mobile.
Of these scams, 83 per cent happen via a mobile app with the remaining via a mobile browser.
The figures come after a recent report by the National Crime Agency found that fraud accounts for 40 per cent of all reported crimes amid an increase in scam activity.
Nearly £1.2billion was lost to fraud last year, with 3.5million fraud offences having been committed in the year to March 2023.
Over six per cent of people in England and Wales were the victim of fraud during the period, more than double the three per cent that experienced vehicle related theft, and three times those who were victims of criminal damage or bicycle theft.
