Online Fraud Rising, Says Study

Fraudulent online transactions are growing rapidly and are coming more and more from abroad, according to a survey by VeriSign Inc.

The study reported that 6.2% of U.S. e-commerce transactions were attempts at fraud. More than half the fraud attempts were made by entities outside the U.S.

In addition, the number of security incidents almost doubled between May and August this year, according to the study from the online infrastructure services company.

The Mountain View, CA firm also found showed a high correlation (47%) between sources of fraud and sources of security attacks. “Attackers who gain control of Internet host machines are using these compromised hosts for both security attacks and fraudulent e-commerce transactions, the study said.”