Vietnam ranked third in Southeast Asia for financial phishing attacks in the first half of 2024, according to a recent report by cybersecurity firm Kaspersky.

Vietnam experienced 40,102 financial phishing attacks in January-June, while Thailand recorded the highest number of incidents at 141,258, followed by Indonesia with 48,439. 

Malaysia registered 38,056 phishing attacks related to financial matters.

Singapore and the Philippines chalked up the least number of this threat at 28,591 and 26,080, respectively.

Thailand and Singapore both saw the highest increases of 582 percent and 406 percent compared to the same period last year, respectively.

Financial phishing is a type of phishing which refers to fraudulent resources related to banking, payment systems, and digital shops.

Through financial phishing, attackers deceptively manipulate victims to divulge their personal and valuable information such as login credentials to financial accounts, as well as other personal or corporate information that is stored in those accounts.

They are employing advanced social engineering schemes masquerading as financial institutions to deceive, invoke fear and exhort victims, and in some instances impersonate charitable organizations to trick victims into making contributions.

Financial phishing attacks are rapidly increasing in Southeast Asia as cybercriminals continuously evolve and adapt their tactics, making them sophisticated. 

The number of attacks rose 41 percent compared to the corresponding period last year, underpinned by increased digital adoption and the use of artificial intelligence and automation by threat actors to render convincing content and target victims more effectively.

“The pool of potential victims has grown larger over the past few years given the increased usage of online banking and digital financial services,” said Adrian Hia, managing director for Asia Pacific at Kaspersky.

Kaspersky experts link this sharp increase to a surge in fraudulent activity rather than a drop in user vigilance.

Cybercriminals are growing more aggressive in targeting users’ data and money, even on corporate devices.

Financial phishing will continue to evolve in this region and sectors like banking, insurance, and e-commerce will remain prime targets, according to Hia. 

Apart from traditional phishing emails, cybercriminals will also continue to exploit social media and messaging platforms to spread fraudulent links, fake pages and apps. 

“With deepfakes growing prevalent, we will also see an increase in fake videos and voice messages that are highly sophisticated and harder to detect,” the director added. 

“It is imperative now more than ever for companies to step up their security measures, by implementing robust security solutions, adopting best practices and training their workforce to raise awareness of cyber threats and how to protect themselves and their organizations.”

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