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The decade's biggest cyber crime attacks

It has been a decade of exciting online transformations that let people communicate, share information and conduct business in ways that were never possible before for Internet users.

While users benefited from the big changes, millions fell prey to an unsuspecting culprit. Cybercrime has flourished over the last decade, growing by double digits year after year, and costing consumers hundreds of millions of dollars every year.

The latest report from McAfee, 'A Good Decade for Cybercrime', examines the past ten years of cybercriminal tactics and online threats, an era that dramatically changed the face of crime.

"Cybercrime is one of the fastest growing and lucrative industries of our time," said Dave Marcus, director of security research for McAfee Labs.

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The decade's biggest cyber crime attacks

"From the 'I Love You Worm' of 2000, to today's ever-evolving threats on social media sites, we've watched these cyber criminals and their tactics grow in sophistication. The days of destruction purely for bragging rights are over now it's all about making money and not getting caught," says McAfee.

Over the past ten years, Internet use has exploded, growing over five-fold from the 361 million users in 2000 to nearly two billion users in 2010, according to InternetWorldStats.com.

With a new onslaught of e-commerce sites and revenue opportunities, the Internet has become a trove of money and information that has proven irresistible to cybercrooks.

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The decade's biggest cyber crime attacks

1. 'I LOVE YOU' worm's false affection
Estimated damage: $15 billion

The "I love you" worm (named after the subject line of the email it came in) proved irresistible in 2000 as millions of users opened the spam message and downloaded the attached 'love letter' file and a bitter virus.

This infamous worm cost companies and government agencies $15 billion to shut down their computers and remove the infection.

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The decade's biggest cyber crime attacks

2. MyDoom's Mass Infection
Estimated damage: $38 billion

This fast-moving worm first struck in 2004 and tops McAfee's list in terms of monetary damage.

Due to all the spam it sent, it slowed down global Internet access by 10 per cent and reduced access to some websites by 50 per cent, causing billions in dollars of lost productivity and online sales.

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The decade's biggest cyber crime attacks

3. Conficker's stealthy destruction
Estimated damage $9.1 billion

This 2007 worm infected millions of computers and then took its infections further than the last two worms on our list, as cybercrooks moved from notoriety to professionalism.

Conficker was designed to download and install malware from sites controlled by the virus writers.

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The decade's biggest cyber crime attacks

1. Fake anti-virus software

Selling fake antivirus software is one of the most insidious and successful scams of recent years.

Cybercrooks play on users' fear that their computer and information is at-risk by displaying misleading pop-ups that prompt the victim to "purchase" antivirus software to fix the problem.

When the victim agrees to purchase, their credit card information is stolen and they wind up downloading malware instead of security software.

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The decade's biggest cyber crime attacks

2. Phishing scams

Phishing, or trying to trick users into giving up personal information, is one of the most common and persistent online threats.

Phishing can come in spam emails, spam instant messages, fake friend requests or social networking posts.

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The decade's biggest cyber crime attacks

3. Phony websites

In recent years, cybercrooks have become adept at creating fake websites that look like the real deal.

From phony banking sites, to auction sites and e-commerce pages, crooks are constantly laying online traps hoping you will be fooled into entering your credit card or personal information.

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The decade's biggest cyber crime attacks

Looking ahead to future cybercrime trends, McAfee Labs predicts more social networking scams and tricks, such as malicious links, phony friend requests and phishing attempts.

The scams are likely to get more sophisticated and personalized, especially if users continue to share a great deal of information.