"The good news is that, this year, fewer people think that they lost money to phishers, but when they did lose, they lost more," says Avivah Litan, vice-president and distinguished analyst at Gartner. "The average loss per victim nearly quintupled between 2005 and 2006, and the thieves seem to be targeting higher-income earners who are also more likely to transact on the Internet."

According to the survey, approximately 109 million U.S. adults have received phishing e-mail attacks, up from 57 million U.S. adults in 2004. The average loss per victim has grown from $257 to $1,244 per victim in 2006. The average amount of money consumers recovered from phishing attacks in 2005 was 80 percent, but in 2006, recovery amounts dropped to 54 percent.

High-income adults earning more than $100,000 per year are more heavily attacked. This group reported receiving an average of 112 phishing e-mails in the past year versus 74 e-mails per consumers across all income brackets. The high-income adults lost on average $4,362, almost four times as much as other victims.