Google Detected 2 Million Phishing Sites This Year

From January to October of this year, Google’s Safe Browsing service added a total of 2.02 million new phishing sites to its database—almost 20% more than in all of 2019. Analysts attribute this significant increase to the growing number of potential victims, as private companies and government agencies have been moving employees to remote work due to COVID-19. Additionally, the panic and uncertainty caused by the pandemic have made people less vigilant, which benefits cybercriminals.

According to Google’s statistics, its security service detected an average of 46,000 phishing sites per week in 2020, with peak numbers observed in February and early May. In most cases, phishers created fake pages on hacked websites to avoid the hassle of registering new domains.

There were significantly fewer malicious (malware) sites; those spreading malware also preferred to place their traps on compromised resources.

COVID-19 Worsened an Already Serious Problem

Experts at Atlas VPN analyzed Google Safe Browsing data from the past five years and found that the number of phishing sites increases by an average of 13% each year. Researchers also noted that this trend generally matches the overall growth in internet activity.

Unfortunately, as people move more of their lives online, they often behave carelessly and ignore good advice. For this reason, phishing and other forms of online fraud remain a significant threat, despite the efforts of experts and service providers.

How to Protect Yourself from Phishing

Analysts pointed out that scammers often disguise their traps as Google web services and can even push them to the top of search results through SEO manipulation. To avoid becoming a victim of fraud, users should follow these simple rules:

• Carefully check the website URL; signs of a fake site include an unusually long address, errors in the domain name, or strange characters.
• Whenever possible, use secure connections—look for https:// at the beginning of the address and a green padlock icon.
• Never enter confidential information on sites that do not use encryption.
• Pay attention to spelling—scammers rarely bother to correct mistakes.
• If you have doubts, review the site’s contact and copyright information, and check the authenticity of embedded links by hovering your mouse over them.