Phishing mail offensive: online shoppers refuse to be put off

Nearly 20 per cent of Internet users remain unimpressed by phishing mails
Small online shops nonetheless expect their sales to fall

Every fifth Internet user refuses to let phishing mails put them off buying online.

Despite their clever presentation, phishers only manage to hook a tiny minority of customers
Phishing mails are currently experiencing a fresh new wave of design and development. Where once they were identifiable at a glance, some now look deceptively genuine. Nonetheless only a tiny minority of Internet users are letting themselves be put off buying online. Barely ten per cent shop online less or not at all as a result of an increased frequency in phishing mail. That is the result of the Internet World Business trend scout Sicherheit beim Online-Kauf (Online Shopping Security) conducted by novomind AG in collaboration with Internet World Business.
 
Spam mails are now targeting not just banks but also Internet retailers
Whether they come in the form of a competition, a bill or a reminder to pay, more and more computer viruses are still gaining access to private PCs via phishing mails. Legitimate-sounding subject headings and senders are attracting unsuspecting web surfers to so-called phishing websites. The deceptively genuine-looking websites request customer and password data. As the latest examples show, not only users of online banking systems but also customers of online shops are not immune to such offensives. Amazon and eBay users were recently prominently targeted. The Internet population is now aware of the problem and the latest reports of phishing mails generally only have a short-term effect on virtual shopping behaviour, with a good 35 per cent of online shoppers only curtailing their shopping activities for a few days or weeks in response to such warnings.
 
Temporary falls in sales difficult for small online shops to balance out
Yet even a short-term lack of buyers can affect some online shops, and the smaller Internet retailers with turnover of less than a million euros are the ones to be hit particularly hard when online shoppers grow cautious. Nearly 27 per cent of such shops fear that their customers will buy less for a few weeks when phishing mails are more frequent. Unlike their high-turnover market rivals, which can absorb a short-term fall in consumers, such smaller online shops find it hard to cope with the considerable threat such sales deficits can pose.
 
Background information
The Internet World Business trend scout presents the results of an online survey conducted for novomind AG in collaboration with Internet World Business. The data was collected in the period from 12 to 20 June 2007. A total of 171 skilled and management personnel employed in Internet business took part in the survey.
 
novomind AG: innovative software for professional customer communications
novomind is a software developer in Hamburg and the fastest-growing company in the field of electronic customer communications and mail management. As the leading provider of innovative solutions for digital customer communications, novomind AG provides software for service-oriented and personalised customer dealings. The software not only optimises efficiency in customer administration significantly, it also gives the user a faster return on investment. The portfolio of the Products division includes the novomind Self-Service Suite™. The software package contains all the communication modules necessary for a customer service centre on a central knowledge basis: e-mail management, virtual customer consulting and systems for interactive, real-time communication. The novomind AG Services division implements complex e-business applications. More than 40 major companies have already decided in favour of novomind technology, among them Citibank, Otto, Yello Strom and the German pension institution Deutsche Rentenversicherung Bund. Club Bertelsmann, EnBW and Mexx as well as public-sector users, such as the German Bundestag (parliament) and the German Department of Trade and Industry, have already successfully introduced novomind systems to optimise their customer communications, turnover and PR.

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