The recent omission of China from Apple's latest list of countries that can expect to get the new iPad has done more in China than leave the fanboys despondent.

According to a report (in Chinese) from the China Internet Illegal Information Reporting Centre (CIIRC), a government-sponsored NGO, the slow release of the new iPad (unofficially known as the iPad 3) to China, along with continuing scarcity of the iPhone 4S has led to a surge in phishing attacks targeting those desperate enough, or simply not savvy enough, to click on a link offering an iPad or iPhone for a cheap price.

According to the CIIRC, phishing web sites luring people to purchase new Apple products are attracting roughly 200,000 hits per day.

The report says the phishing attacks usually bait customers with promises of only paying once a product is received. The customer then receives a phone call, which is used to feel out the potentialvictim and how to cheat them. If the customer knows little about Apple products and online shopping, the report says, they will be sent a counterfeit or a broken old 'brick' cell phone, which they then pay for. But more often, the report says, customers are sweet-talked into paying in advance, only to never receive any product at all.

The report did not say how many of the 200,000 daily website hits led to people actually being scammed.

While phishing is nothing new in China, the rapid pace of Internet development in the country produces a steady stream of novice users 129 million between the end of 2009 and the beginning of this year, according to the most recent government numbers (pdf)