US GDP per capitaPhishing attacks reported annually (worldwide)
American GDP per capita climbing alongside global phishing attacks. The economy and the inbox attack volume, both growing year on year. The graph is, in places, almost a portrait of who the targets are.
US GDP per capita grew from about 44,000 dollars in 2005 to over 70,000 by 2022 as post-2008 recovery, pandemic-era stimulus, and inflation lifted the figure. Global phishing attacks grew sharply across the same window as bot-driven scams scaled and AI-assisted social engineering matured. Two completely unrelated lines sharing a window because the same eighteen years inflated both a national income measure and a fraud-volume metric. Wealth attracts attempts to take it.
When wealth grows, so does the attempt to take it. Two graphs of the same target getting larger.
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Want to learn more about why correlations like “US GDP per capita” vs “Phishing attacks reported annually (worldwide)” don't prove causation? Read our guide to statistical thinking.
