A California man who allegedly duped AOL users into handing over credit card details to a fraudulent website has been arrested in the US. Police charged Jeffrey Brett Goodin, 46, of Azusa, with wire fraud and other charges over allegations he masterminded an aggressive phishing scam.

Goodin allegedly sent thousands of emails that posed as messages from AOL's billing department warning customers needed to update their payment information or risk losing access to their accounts. Prospective marks were directed towards a fraudulent website and invited to hand over sensitive personal details including credit and debit card information that Goodin allegedly used to make fraudulent purchases.

Phishing frauds are becoming an increasingly popular scam. According to the latest available figures from the Anti-Phishing Working Group, 17,000 such fraudulent attacks were launched in November alone. ®