Phishing Attacks Surge to 900M in 2024

Cybercriminals are ramping up their tactics, with phishing attacks reaching record levels in 2024. According to Kaspersky, its security solutions blocked over 893 million phishing attempts last year—a 26% increase from 2023, when the number stood at 710 million.

The most significant spike in phishing activity occurred between May and July, a period typically linked to holiday-season scams. Fraudsters lured travelers with fake airline and hotel bookings, deceptive tour packages, and too-good-to-be-true deals.

Big Brands and AI-Powered Scams

Attackers frequently imitated well-known brands such as Booking, Airbnb, TikTok, and Telegram to steal user credentials. One notable campaign specifically targeted TikTok Shop sellers, using fake login pages to harvest account details.

Cybercriminals also exploited trending news, launching fraud schemes around the cryptocurrency game Hamster Kombat and TON wallets. Additionally, fake celebrity promotions became a widespread tactic, tricking users into participating in non-existent giveaways—a trend that continues into 2025.

Corporate Email Threats and Spam on the Rise

Phishing wasn’t the only cyber risk growing last year. Kaspersky detected over 125 million malicious email attachments, with attackers using tactics like password-protected malware files and SVG images disguised as harmless graphics to evade detection.

Corporate users were hit especially hard: nearly 50% of emails in business inboxes were classified as spam, and in the UAE, malicious emails increased by 3% year-over-year. Spam campaigns often pushed AI-related webinars, online promotion services, and follower-boosting schemes—blurring the line between nuisance and potential security threats.