Online fraud biggest hit to phone users, Qihoo 360 states

Online fraud has become the most damaging scam to mobile phone users, according a report issued by Qihoo 360, China's largest security software provider.

The report, released on Friday, revealed the average loss from victims of online fraud reached 17,582 yuan ($2,617)between April and June, which was twice as much as in the same period last year.

It also stated that in three months, the company's platform, jointly built with Beijing Public Security Bureau, received 6,807 reports of online frauds, of which, 1,100 related to online finances.

In addition, text spam, call scams, malicious software and phishing websites were also major threatsto mobile phone users.

According to the report, Guangzhou and Shenzhen in Guangdong province, along with Beijing and Shanghai, were the most common municipalities to be hit with scams.

Qihoo 360's anti-spam software has, however, helped mobile phone users block 2.34 billion pieces of text spam from April to June, down 48.6 percent year-on-year.The report also stated the most common spam was advertising promotions and text messages in the name of banks or e-commerce platforms.