In the UK alone, for example, spam volume increased by almost 99 percent from 2009 to 2010. Turkey's spam volume, on the other hand, dropped by 87 percent.

According to Cisco's report, "scammers are finding it harder to exploit platforms that were once their bread and butter -- in particular, the Windows platform -- and are looking elsewhere to make money". "Third-party mobile applications in particular are emerging as a serious threat vector," adds Cisco.

Money muling and trust exploitation are also ways cybercriminals are finding to make money. The report lists "seven deadly weaknesses" that criminals exploit through social engineering scams -- sex appeal, greed, vanity, trust sloth, compassion and urgency.

For Cisco NZ's security expert John-Paul Sikking, "these trends are equally valid here in New Zealand".

Sikking points out that New Zealand's remote location does not mean the country is immune to the same threats. "Exploitation of trust and the attacks we see against Social Media users is not limited to within geographic boundaries. Attacks target our humanness (sex appeal, greed, vanity, trust, sloth and compassion) are not limited to particular countries and continue to fool us into giving away information, or trusting someone we shouldn't," he added.