Branded Online Pharmacies & Drugs Continue to be Abused

According to MarkMonitor's Summer 2008 Brandjacking Index published on August 26, 2008, it is found that brandjackers continue to abuse high-ranked pharmaceutical trademarks, endangering consumers through supply chains that are controlled illegally through the sale of doubtful prescription drugs via dubious exchange Websites and similar online pharmacies.

MarkMonitor reported that it compiled its data on the basis of 16 Million distinct phishing e-mails received every day. The report also found that there was an all-time increase in cybersquatting of major brands, and phishers were increasingly targeting diverse organizations as never before.

Also, according to the report, the data compiled has been analyzed and compared with the research that MarkMonitor conducted in August 2007 to provide information on changing trends. It also stated a rise in phishing, with 35% of the 485 companies being phished in Q2 2008, had never been victims of phishing previously.

According to MarkMonitor, the gross number of companies that were phished in the second quarter of 2008 increased 19.5% over the previous quarter, and 20% over 2007.

Meanwhile, Irfan Salim, President and Chief Executive Officer, MarkMonitor, said that the company's data depicting year-over-year trend indicated to a serious situation. As more and more people purchase pharmaceutical drugs over the Internet with the objective of saving money, scammers are aggressively exploiting loopholes in the online trade of drugs, as reported by BusinessWire on August 26, 2008.

Further, as per reports by MarkMonitor, phishing attacks on financial sites grew 66% in Q2 2008 over Q1 2008, while similar attacks on auction sites dropped 50%, suggesting that phishers were making changes in a cyclical manner.

Meanwhile, MarkMonitor also reported that 35% of phishing Websites recorded in the Brandjacking Index had their origin in the US in Q2 2008 compared to 67% in Q2 2007. With this the US is still the country hosting most phishing sites, while China follows next, hosting 8% of such sites.

Furthermore, MarkMonitor stated in its report that brandjackers continued to focus their efforts on cybersquatting, as they try to exploit leading brands especially pharmaceutical brands.

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» SPAMfighter News - 9/6/2008