Microsoft hooks and reels in phishers

Stan Beer
Thursday, 23 November 2006 12:56

Your IT - Home IT

Phishing fraudsters across Europe and Turkey felt the sting in the tail of Microsoft, after the software company filed 97 civil lawsuits and 32 criminal complaints against online thieves.

Phishing involves fraudsters luring internet surfers to fake web pages that imitate high profile sites such as those of well known banks and respected brands. When unsuspecting surfers arrive at the fake pages they are usually asked to provide sensitive information such as bank account details and passwords, often leading to their bank accounts being emptied and identity theft.

Microsoft has involved itself because all of the 129 cases use either phony Hotmail or MSN.com pages to trick users into handing over their private information.

Both Microsoft and rival browser developer Mozilla have included anti-phishing functions in their latest browsers which warn users when they try to visit suspect sites. However, neither browser can claim to be foolproof in this regard.

A surprisingly high number of the phishers targeted by Microsoft have turned out to be young people who have had civil suits lodged against them, while the rest have been criminal investigations, one of which resulted in a two and a half year jail sentence against a man in Turkey.