During this week's "Anti Internet Finance Fraud and Phishing Forum 2005", which was jointly hosted by the China Public Security Bureau, banks and network security companies, focus was placed on domestic phishing and online scams.

China ranks No. 2 in the world for hosting of phishing attacks, accounting for 13% of the world's total phishing websites. In 2004, Chinese police investigated and uncovered 1350 online fraud and spam email cases, and in the first quarter of 2005, 543 online phishing incidents have been identified and 1361 illegal websites closed.

During this week's forum, the AIAV (Anti Internet Attack & Virus Research Center of China) said it will launch the "China Anti Internet Phishing Alliance" under the auspices of the Ministry of Public Security.

Financial institutions, e-commerce operators, IT enterprises, email providers and individuals, professionals and non-profit entities are invited to join the alliance and become members.