The APWG, founded in 2003 as the Anti-Phishing Working Group, is the global industry, law enforcement, and government coalition focused on unifying the global response to electronic crime. The institution's membership is as global as its outlook, acting as advisors to multilateral treaty organizations such as the European Commission, the Council of Europe's Convention on Cybercrime, the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime, the Commonwealth of Nations Cybercrime Initiative, the OECD and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Membership is open to qualified financial institutions, online retailers, ISPs and telcos, the law enforcement community, solutions providers, multi-lateral treaty organizations, research centers, trade associations and government agencies. There are more than 2,000 companies, government agencies and NGOs participating in the APWG. APWG's www.apwg.org and education.apwg.org websites offer the public, industry and government agencies practical information about phishing and electronically mediated fraud as well as pointers to pragmatic technical solutions that provide immediate protection. The APWG is co-founder and co-manager of the Stop. Think. Connect. Messaging Convention, the global online safety public awareness collaborative www.stopthinkconnect.org and founder/curator of the eCrime Researchers Summit, the world’s only peer-reviewed conference dedicated exclusively to electronic crime studies: www.ecrimeresearch.org.
