Australian phishing websites closed in global crackdown 25/5/05:
Australian government agencies have shut down more than a dozen local websites that sough to solicit credit card details from unsuspecting consumers.
The 13 Australian sites were among almost 1,400 closed in a global crackdown on "phishing" - the practice of luring internet users to web sites to steal passwords, financial or personal information.
The international sweep - conducted over the past 11 months - also closed more than 700 carding and e-commerce websites brokering stolen card numbers worldwide.
Mastercard International, which initiated the operation, said the number of detected sites illegally trading card numbers had fallen from 139 in June 2004 to 10 in May this year.
Phishing scams use fraudulent emails and websites pretending to originate from well-known company brands to con consumers into releasing personal information such as bank account details and credit card numbers.
Under the operation, 133 phishing sites posing as charities channeling money to the Indian Ocean tsunami relief effort were also detected.
MasterCard International's regional head of security and risk management Tim Morris said the company's collaborative efforts with law enforcement across the world enabled a quick response to reports of fraudulent sites.
Ninety-three per cent of the sites were taken offline within 24 to 48 hours of detection.
"It all depends on which country it is and what works best," Morris said.
"We are usually very pleasantly surprised by the great amount of cooperation we get."
Almost a quarter of the world's phishing sites around the world were detected in the Asia Pacific region.
South Korea topped the regional list with 83 sites, followed by China (45), Taiwan (44), Japan (21) and Australia (13).
