Microsoft Plays Detective, Casts 129 Lawsuits on Phishers
According to a Reuters report, Microsoft is aiding law enforcement efforts overseas by serving up 129 lawsuits related to phishing activity in Europe and the Middle East.
The legal sweep arrives in the wake of the Redmond, WA giant’s unveiling of its Global Phishing Enforcement Initiative in March. Of the 129 separate suits, Reuters states that 97 are criminal procedures in which Microsoft and other tech firms have cooperated and provided information.
The practice of hijacking bank accounts and stealing personal information by sending deceptive emails posing as legitimate institutions is becoming fairly rampant, claims security software outfit Symantec. The company reports that the number of phishing attempts has almost doubled in the first half of 2006 to 157,000, with the total amount of damages from phishing expected to reach $2.8 billion in 2006 alone, according to research group Gartner.
Using Web-crawling software, customer complaints and old-fashioned, Columbo-style detective work, Microsoft’s US-based sleuths investigated 253 cases of phishing before legal action was taken. According to a company spokesman, most of the investigations and 50 of the criminal complaints were filed in Turkey, with Germany running second with 28 criminal complaints and France in third place with 11.
Britain led the pack in civil orders with 18 out of a total 32, with cases also being filed in Dubai, Italy, Morocco and the Netherlands.
Reader Comments.
The Global Phishing Enforcement Initiative is great I hope Google, Yahoo, and AOL jump in and help with phishing enforcement.
This Global Phishing Enforcement Initiative is a great development and long overdue. I hope Google, Yahoo, and AOL jump on board and help with enforcement.
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