APAC e-commerce biz hurt due to phishing

HONG KONG: The latest online scam, phishing, is hurting e-commerce in the Asia Pacific as consumers shy away from purchasing online in face of security worries, according to a report released on Monday.

Fraudsters send out millions of e-mails every day allegedly from real companies asking recipients for personal and financial information, according to International Data Corp. (IDC).

A recent phishing incident occured in Hong Kong where at least a dozen customers of giant HSBC Holdings Plc were lured to provide personal financial information at a fake bank Web site.

"The success of e-commerce businesses depends on consumers' confidence in purchasing online," Jessie Yu, associate market analyst of IDC Asia Pacific's security and business continuity services, said in a statement.

"It only takes one major security breach to destroy the trust and relationship that has taken years to build between customers and vendors."

IDC did not specify how much online sales had been lost due to growing fraud.