BEIJING -- China had tracked and dealt with 13,923 phishing websites in the first half of the year, according to data with the Anti-phishing Alliance of China.

The phishing websites lured users to fake sites in an attempt to obtain user information, the APAC said.

Online payment, financial securities and social communication sites were the most commonly used platforms for the scams, the APAC said, urging the netizens to take care when giving away personal information online.

China's online population hit 538 million by the end of June this year.