Cyber scam reports nearly double on the Isle of Man

Phishing, fraud, and domain impersonation dominate July and August update

The Isle of Man Cyber Security Centre says the number of suspicious emails reported on the Island almost doubled in July and August compared with the previous two months.

Between 1 July and 31 August 2025, 1,506 suspicious emails were flagged to authorities - a sharp rise from just under 800 reports in May and June.

Malicious links made up the majority of submissions, but there was also a marked increase in advance fee fraud - a scam where someone is persuaded to pay money upfront on the false promise of receiving a much larger reward, contract, or benefit that never materialises.

Alongside the email reports, 69 separate cyber concerns were logged in July and August, including phishing, fraudulent websites, and business email compromise.

Manx.net was the most impersonated service in local scams, with attackers also mimicking anti-malware software, investment platforms, competitions, and cloud storage providers.

The report highlights how compromised accounts continue to be exploited, particularly where multi-factor authentication has not been enabled. In one case, a financial firm’s systems were advertised for sale on the dark web after suspected misuse of outdated security tokens.

The update warns that fraudsters are creating fake websites that closely copy the names of real businesses in order to trick customers into sharing sensitive information.

It also highlights security flaws in popular data storage devices used by many small firms, which could allow criminals to break in and steal files if they are left exposed online.

Internationally, the UK was identified as the third most targeted country for cyberattacks, facing more than 100 million malicious attempts in just three months.

Breaches involving Salesforce and Salesloft affected over 700 organisations, while UK telecoms provider Colt was hit by an incident linked to Chinese state-sponsored hackers.

The update also references ransomware attacks in the Dutch Caribbean that paralysed government services for weeks, underlining the risks faced by smaller jurisdictions.

Residents and organisations are urged to remain vigilant and report suspicious emails to SERS@ocsia.im.