Phishing Activity Trends Reports

The Phishing Activity Trends Report analyzes phishing attacks reported to the APWG by its member companies, Research Partners and from the general public via reportphishing@apwg.org and apwg.org's reporting pages. APWG Trends also measures the evolution and propagation of cybercrime by drawing from research by our member companies.

Summary – 4th Quarter 2025 (End-of-Year Review)

Phishing Activity Trends Summary

In the fourth quarter of 2025, APWG observed 853,244 phishing attacks, down 4% from Q3. [pp. 3-4]
During 2025, the volume of scams impersonations, and other threats increased on every social media platform, and increased across threat types in every quarter, according to ZeroFox. [pp. 5-7]
Phishers targeted the Social Media and SaaS/Webmail sectors most frequently. [pp. 4-5]
The total number of wire transfer BEC attacks observed in Q4 2025 increased by 136% compared to Q3. [pp. 11-12]
During Q4 2025, the use of SMS for phishing rose [p. 4], while the use of QR codes for phishing decreased by 9%. [pp. 8-9]

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Legacy Reports

Phishing Attack Trends Report – 4Q 2025 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released December 10, 2025
Phishing Attack Trends Report – 3Q 2025 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released December 10, 2025
Phishing Attack Trends Report – 2Q 2025 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released September 2, 2025
Phishing Attack Trends Report – 1Q 2025 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released July 2, 2025
Phishing Attack Trends Report – 4Q 2024 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released March 19, 2025
Phishing Attack Trends Report – 3Q 2024 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released August 21, 2024
Phishing Attack Trends Report – 2Q 2024 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released August 21, 2024
Phishing Attack Trends Report – 1Q 2024 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released May 14, 2024
Phishing Attack Trends Report – 4Q 2023 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released February 13, 2023
Phishing Attack Trends Report – 3Q 2023 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released November 13, 2023
Phishing Attack Trends Report – 2Q 2023 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released November 07, 2023
Phishing Attack Trends Report – 1Q 2023 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released November 02, 2023
Phishing Attack Trends Report – 3Q 2022 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released December 12, 2022
Phishing Attack Trends Report – 2Q 2022 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released September 20, 2022
Phishing Attack Trends Report – 1Q 2022 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released June 07, 2022
Phishing Attack Trends Report – 4Q 2021 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released February, 2022
Phishing Attack Trends Report – 3Q 2021 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released November, 2021
Phishing Attack Trends Report – 2Q 2021 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released June 08, 2021
Phishing Attack Trends Report – 1Q 2021 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released June 08, 2021
Phishing Attack Trends Report – 4Q 2020 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released February 09, 2021
Phishing Attack Trends Report – 3Q 2020 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released November 24, 2020
Phishing Attack Trends Report – 2Q 2020 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released May 11, 2020
Phishing Attack Trends Report – 1Q 2020 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released May 11, 2020
Phishing Attack Trends Report – 4Q 2019 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released November 4, 2019
Phishing Attack Trends Report – 3Q 2019 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released November 4, 2019
Phishing Attack Trends Report – 2Q 2019 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released Sept 12, 2019
Phishing Attack Trends Report – 1Q 2019 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released May 15, 2019
Phishing Attack Trends Report – 4Q 2018 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released Mar 04, 2019
Phishing Attack Trends Report – 3Q 2018 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released Dec 12, 2018
Phishing Attack Trends Report – 2Q 2018 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released Oct 18, 2018
Phishing Attack Trends Report – 1Q 2018 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released July 31, 2018
Phishing Attack Trends Report – 4Q 2017 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released May 15, 2018
Phishing Attack Trends Report – 3Q 2017 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released Feb 27, 2018
Phishing Attack Trends Report – 1H 2017 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released Oct 17, 2017
Phishing Attack Trends Report – 4Q 2016 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released Feb 22, 2017
Phishing Attack Trends Report – 3Q 2016 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released Dec 21, 2016
Phishing Attack Trends Report – 2Q 2016 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released Oct 03, 2016
Phishing Attack Trends Report – 1Q 2016 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released May 24, 2016
Phishing Attack Trends Report – 4Q 2015 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released March 22, 2016
Phishing Attack Trends Report – 1Q-Q3 2015 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released December 23, 2015
Phishing Attack Trends Report – 4Q 2014 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released April 29, 2015
Phishing Attack Trends Report – 3Q 2014 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released March 30, 2015
Phishing Attack Trends Report – 2Q 2014 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released Aug 29, 2014
Phishing Attack Trends Report – 1Q 2014 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released Jun 23, 2014
Phishing Attack Trends Report – 4Q 2013 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released Apr 27, 2014
Phishing Attack Trends Report – 3Q 2013 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released Feb 07, 2014
Phishing Attack Trends Report – 2Q 2013 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released Nov 06, 2013
Phishing Attack Trends Report – 1Q 2013 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released July 30, 2013
Phishing Attack Trends Report – 4Q 2012 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released April 24, 2013
Phishing Attack Trends Report – 3Q2012 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released February 1, 2013
Phishing Attack Trends Report – 2Q 2012 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released September 12, 2012
Phishing Attack Trends Report – 1Q 2012 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released July 19, 2012
Phishing Attack Trends Report – 2H 2011 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released May 25, 2012
Phishing Attack Trends Report – 1H 2011 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released Dec 23, 2011
Phishing Attack Trends Report – 2H 2010 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released Jul 31, 2011
Phishing Attack Trends Report – Q2 2010 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released Jan 26, 2010
Phishing Attack Trends Report – Q1 2010 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released Sept 23, 2010
Phishing Attack Trends Report – Q4 2009 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released Mar 05, 2010
Phishing Attack Trends Report – Q3 2009 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released Jan 13, 2010
Phishing Attack Trends Report – First Half 2009 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released Sept 27, 2009
Phishing Attack Trends Report – Second Half 2008 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released Mar 17, 2009
Phishing Attack Trends Report – Second Quarter 2008 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released Dec 8, 2008
Phishing Attack Trends Report – First Quarter 2008 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released Aug 29, 2008
Note: Starting in 2008 the APWG began generating it’s phishing trends report on a quarterly and annual bases. This longer term view will allow time for better analysis to asses trends in electronic crime and phishing.
Phishing Attack Trends Report – January 2008 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released Mar 3, 2008
Phishing Attack Trends Report – December 2007 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released Mar 3, 2008
Phishing Attack Trends Report – November 2007 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released Jan 25, 2008
Phishing Attack Trends Report – October 2007 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released Jan 7, 2008
Phishing Attack Trends Report – September 2007 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released Dec 17, 2007
Phishing Attack Trends Report – August 2007 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released Nov 19, 2007
Phishing Attack Trends Report – July 2007 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released Oct 18, 2007
Phishing Attack Trends Report – Jun 2007 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released Sept 3, 2007
Phishing Attack Trends Report – May 2007 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released July 8, 2007
Phishing Attack Trends Report – April 2007 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released May 23 2007
Phishing Attack Trends Report – March 2007 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released May 14 2007
Phishing Attack Trends Report – February 2007 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released April 11 2007
Phishing Attack Trends Report – January 2007 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released March 2007
Phishing Attack Trends Report – December 2006 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released February 2007
Phishing Attack Trends Report – November 2006 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released January 2007
Phishing Attack Trends Report – Sept/Oct 2006 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released December 2006
Phishing Attack Trends Report – August 2006 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released October 2006
Phishing Attack Trends Report – July 2006 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released September 2006
Phishing Attack Trends Report – June 2006 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released August 2006
Phishing Attack Trends Report – May 2006 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released June 2006
Phishing Attack Trends Report – April 2006 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released May 2006
Phishing Attack Trends Report – March 2006 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released May 2006
Phishing Attack Trends Report – February 2006 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released April 2006
Phishing Attack Trends Report – January 2006 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released March 2006
Phishing Attack Trends Report – December 2005 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released Feb , 2006
Phishing Attack Trends Report – November 2005 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released Jan 09, 2006
Phishing Attack Trends Report – October 2005 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released Dec 13, 2005
Phishing Attack Trends Report – September 2005 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released Nov 15, 2005
Phishing Attack Trends Report – August 2005 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released Sept 10, 2005
Phishing Attack Trends Report – July 2005 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released June 21, 2005
Phishing Attack Trends Report – June 2005 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released June 21, 2005
Phishing Attack Trends Report – May 2005 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released May 28, 2005
Phishing Attack Trends Report – April 2005 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released April 22, 2005
Phishing Attack Trends Report – March 2005 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released March 27, 2005
Phishing Attack Trends Report – February 2005 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released March 24, 2005
Phishing Attack Trends Report – January 2005 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released February 24, 2005
Phishing Attack Trends Report – December 2004 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released January 20, 2005
Phishing Attack Trends Report – November 2004 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released December, 2004
NOTE: Starting with the August-October 2004 Phishing Attack Trends Report, a secondary way of tracking phishing attacks was added to the methodology. We now track unique email lures and unique data collection server sites. See the reports for more details.
Phishing Attack Trends Report – August-October 2004 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released November, 2004
Phishing Attack Trends Report – July 2004 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released August, 2004
Phishing Attack Trends Report – June 2004 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released July, 2004
Phishing Attack Trends Report – May 2004 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released June, 2004
Phishing Attack Trends Report – April 2004 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released May, 2004
Phishing Attack Trends Report – March 2004 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released Apr, 2004
Phishing Attack Trends Report – February 2004 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released Mar, 2004
Special Report on Phishing – March 2004 – United States Department of Justice – Released Mar, 2004
Phishing Attack Trends Report – January 2004 – Anti-Phishing Working Group – Released Feb, 2004