In 2023, phishing emails totaled 1.76 billion, the highest amount on record. This represents a 51% increase from 2022.

A new report reveals the most commonly impersonated brands, with Facebook at the top of the list. According to the annual Phisher’s Favorites report, recently released by Vade, Facebook accounted for 23% of the phishing URLs from 2023, with more than 44,000 branded phishing websites. Impersonation attempts saw a 74% increase year-over-year, though the majority of this increase occurred in the second half of the year. In Q3 alone, Facebook’s unique phishing URLs increased by 169% quarter-over-quarter. These figures continue Facebook’s trend as the most impersonated brand for the third year and highlight the use of social media as a channel for phishing. 

Although most industries saw a decrease in unique phishing URLs, social media increased by over 113%. While Facebook saw the highest volume, other social media platforms such as Instagram, WhatsApp and LinkedIn added to the volume as well. 

Social media’s unique phishing URLs saw an increase in 2023, but they did not surpass the finance industry’s volume. The financial sector was the most impersonated industry, accounting for 32% of the total unique phishing URLs. 

To learn more, read the full report here.