Wealthy Americans are receiving more scam emails, also known as phishing, and are taking the bait more often, according to a new survey by Gartner. High-income adults reported receiving an average of 112 phishing emails in the past year compared to an average of 74 for all Americans. Wealthy victims also reported losing an average of $4,362, nearly four times higher than the average for the general population.

In a phishing attack, criminals impersonate a trustworthy source to acquire sensitive information such as passwords and account numbers. A typical email might masquerade as the recipient’s bank and send him to a counterfeit company’s website that requests sensitive information.

The survey also found that the scams are becoming more effective across all income levels. Through August 2006, an estimated 24.4 million Americans clicked on a phishing email, compared to 11.9 million in all of 2005. The average loss per victim increased as well, from $257 to $1,244.

Gartner attributed the jump to savvier scammers. Just a few years ago, a phishing site might be used for weeks, but today it might be used for an hour, confounding authorities who hunt for scammers.

Gartner is a technology consulting firm based in Stamford, Conn. The survey questioned 5,000 adults in August.

—Andew Farrell