Phishing websites rake in $3 billion

SHANGHAI - More than 44 million personal computer users fell victim to phishing websites in 2010, rendering a loss totaling 20 billion yuan ($3 billion), according to a report released on Friday by one of China's top computer security service providers.

Beijing Rising Information Technology Co reported that it detected 1.75 million phishing websites in 2010, more than 10 times the number in 2009.

Phishing is the fraudulent process of attempting to acquire sensitive information, such as passwords and credit card details, by pretending to be a reliable entity.