Do Phishers try to target people with higher-income?

In the past year, individuals who earn more than $100,000 per year received an average of 112 phishing e-mails, the research firm said in the report released Thursday. For users in all income brackets, the figure was 74 phishing e-mails. Such messages appear to come from trusted sources but contain links to Web sites, such as fake banking sites, that try to trick people into handing over sensitive information.

While high-income users tended to click on bogus links less than others, their losses were greater when they were duped, the study noted. They lost an average of $4,362 per incident--four times higher than people in other income categories.

"While we can't say phishers were targeting these people, we can say they did get more phishing e-mail than others," Gartner analyst Avivah Litan said. "It could be because of the lists they are on, which phishers find attractive. I've seen lists (on the Internet) where people are advertising platinum card holders' information."