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A simple search across the .com, .net, .org, .us, .biz and .info top-level domains for common bank names found a huge number of illegitimate sites, including 994 mimicking Lloyds and 1,158 posing as HSBC. Sites bearing the name of US bank Chase totalled 6,470.

None, however, are as popular with phishers as the name of auction site eBay, which occurred 8,057 times in F-Secure's search.

While it accepts that some of these may be legitimate, the company rightly questions domains such as citibank-account-updating.com, registered last Friday to an individual in Virginia. It also wonders why such illegitimate registrations are permitted.

'When someone in, say, Nigeria wants to register a domain name that starts with the name of a well known bank, why are the registrars so willing to let them register it?' it asks.