There has been a significant decrease in the amount of "phishing" e-mails online in part due to the growing efficiency of filtering software, security experts say.
According to a report by IBM, phishing accounted for only 0.1% of all spam in the first six months of 2009, compared to between 0.2% and 0.8% last year.
Kris Lamb, director of the IBM's X-Force research team said: "That is a huge, precipitous decline in the amount of phishing. I wouldn't tell anybody that phishing has died as a threat."
Phishing involves stealing personal information by tricking people into opening e-mails that look like legitimate messages.
When clicked, these e-mails take users to rogue websites which collect details such as passwords and account numbers that are entered.
Mr Lamb said another reason for the decline in phishing volumes could be the growing awareness among people about the risks online. Also, cyber criminals could be working around improved security software by devising other malicious programmes.
The report found an increase in the use of "Trojan horse" spyware which gives hackers access to remote computers.
Copyright © Press Association 2009
