Pandemic Spurred 185% Rise in Online Fraud Activity: Report

Online scam activity in 2020 increased 185% from 2019, reported fraud prevention company Bolster Thursday. “Remote working, online distribution and digital sales channels created an explosion in digital business in 2020,” said Bolster. “As companies accelerated their digital transformation to adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic, online phishing and fraud activity exploded, averaging more than 19,000 new threats being created daily.” The company estimates 6.95 million new phishing and scam pages were created in 2020, with COVID-19 and gift card scams topping the list. Tech, retail and finance were the top three industries targeted, and Gmail was the phishing email service of choice.