« Previous Post | Blog Home | Next Post »
Microsoft Sues Phishers Over Identity Theft
Posted on Feb 18, 2006 by Tom Fragala
Microsoft filed 117 lawsuits this week against unnamed defendants accusing them of identity theft, also known as phishing. Phishing is defined by the Wikipedia as the act of attempting to fraudulently acquire through deception sensitive personal information such as passwords and credit card details by masquerading in an official-looking email, IM, etc. as someone trustworthy with a real need for such information.
Recently phishing has moved beyond fake eBay and Citibank emails to phishing on Yahoo and other Instant Messaging systems which take the users to false Yahoo pages which require their re-login information. Microsoft’s lawsuits were made under the Lanham Act, a federal trademark protection law which boasts a maximum $1 million fine per violation.
More: Microsoft Sues Phishers Over Identity Theft : Search Engine Journal.
Filed under: Identity Theft
Comments
Post a Comment