A report shows that the number of new phishing web sites detected in April 2007 was more than double that of the previous month.

Unique phishing web sites reported by the Anti-Phishing Work Group (APWG) numbered 55,643 in April 2007, up from 20,871 in March.

The huge increase is thought to be due to phishers putting large numbers of phishing addresses on the same domains.

April 2007 saw the number of business brands being attacked rise to 174, including social networking and web-based e-mail providers.

However, the APWG report shows that financial institutions such as banks are still the most targeted companies, at 92.5% of the total.

The APWG plans to launch a new database in July that will improve detection of phishing web sites.

Web users are warned to look out for phishing e-mails, and always log in to your bank account by going directly to your bank's web site address rather than by following a link.

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