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Microsoft goes legal in assault on phishers

         

engine

6:23 pm on Mar 20, 2006 (gmt 0)

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More than 100 suspected cybercriminals will be targeted by Microsoft's lawyers, as its fightback against phishing begins.

Microsoft on Monday announced an initiative to tackle phishing Web sites that infringe on its trademark.

[news.zdnet.co.uk...]

Junanagoh

7:28 pm on Mar 20, 2006 (gmt 0)

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Yay!

I get a lot of emails for Ebay/Paypal spoof sites. I report them every time.

christopher w

8:40 pm on Mar 20, 2006 (gmt 0)

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Great to hear - now if PayPal, Chase, WAMU, eBay, et. al do the same hopefully this can clear up some of the hundreds of these I get per day!

Liane

9:01 pm on Mar 20, 2006 (gmt 0)

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It certainly took them long enough to make the first move!

timchuma

9:54 pm on Mar 20, 2006 (gmt 0)

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The sites are usually only temporary anyway so it is very hard to track them down.

They will mainly catch the stupid phishers you try to do it on their local ISP under their own user account.

Robert Charlton

11:17 pm on Mar 20, 2006 (gmt 0)

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I get a lot of emails for Ebay/Paypal spoof sites. I report them every time.

I try to report them, but it's not always obvious how to do this.

If the ISPs would make it easier to report emails that are fraud or phishing, that would help a lot.

lexipixel

11:38 pm on Mar 20, 2006 (gmt 0)

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To report PayPal or eBay related phishing emails, forward the message
(with the entire email header) to:

spoof@paypal.com

-or-

spoof@ebay.com

... as others mentioned, the phishermen don't use the mail server for very long, so sending the spoof report as soon as possible may better help track them down.

jomaxx

12:15 am on Mar 21, 2006 (gmt 0)

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This seems to only apply to phishers infringing on Microsoft's trademarks. Seems like a very small first step, but at least maybe it'll wake up Interpol and other police organizations to this.

Actually, as I think about it, I'm not sure this is a good thing at all. The problem here is mass organized FRAUD and IDENTITY THEFT, not some BS trademark dispute. I'm not sure I like the idea of online trademark infringement being raised to the level that Interpol is getting involved. Seems like this could turn into a huge legal weapon that could be turned against all kinds of smaller sites that aren't involved with phishing at all. Kind of like the RICCO Act in the US.

petermason

11:58 am on Mar 21, 2006 (gmt 0)

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Al Capone went to jail for tax evasion, not murder - maybe they're just going for trademark infringement because it's a clear-cut case they can win.

They wouldn't be the plaintiffs in a more broad case of identity theft or fraud - that's up to the victims of the phishing scams themselves.

afterburner

12:27 pm on Mar 21, 2006 (gmt 0)

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something needs to be done about this, it is just out of control

SteveJohnston

1:26 pm on Mar 21, 2006 (gmt 0)

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Hey Robert,

Netcraft have some excellent phishing reporting initiatives going on, including a secrity toolbar that identifies higher-rish IP addresses.

Steve

KeithCash

3:59 pm on Mar 21, 2006 (gmt 0)

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Yes......Thank you MS

decaff

9:47 pm on Mar 21, 2006 (gmt 0)

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One thing you can count on through all of this...

MS's focus will not be just to go after phishing but to set up new legal standards and precedents for controlling the future of the Internet marketplace (as they see it from Redmond)... and as they roll out the "Web Centric" strategies (Vista) to try and compete with (and squash) the successful and expanding Web services online (Google being one)...

They will mask this behind "going after the phishing/fraud" and working on the PR (that's Public Relations folks)...side to keep that "rosie" image intact...

Watch your legal backside when it comes to MS...plain and simple...

jomaxx

10:25 pm on Mar 21, 2006 (gmt 0)

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Frankly I rarely if ever receive phishing emails that involve Microsoft at all, so I don't see why they're the ones pushing this rather than Paypal or eBay or Citibank.

I think this is ultimately tied up with Microsoft's attempts to stamp out piracy of their software.

ByronM

1:43 pm on Mar 22, 2006 (gmt 0)

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decaff..

I worry more about the implications of what our president is doing over what MS can do. MS is restrained to courts that are staffed by citizens that can make up there own mind.

I think this is great that someone is finally attacking those who are doing illegal activities. Yes, i fault others for not stepping up to the bat and ignoring this growing issue.

Go microsoft.

Brett_Tabke

5:47 pm on Mar 22, 2006 (gmt 0)

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> I get a lot of emails for Ebay/Paypal spoof sites. I report them every time.

I get 500-1000 per day.

activeco

8:45 pm on Mar 22, 2006 (gmt 0)

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Great to hear - now if PayPal, Chase, WAMU, eBay, et. al do the same hopefully this can clear up some of the hundreds of these I get per day!

They just don't care.
And if they do, they wouldn't do it for the sake of protecting client/consumer, but to protect themselves.
Look at MS. Why do they care? Because of the "copyright infringement". Not because of you.
They are simply afraid that the already wide spread practices would undermine the confidence in their name.

Anyway, isn't this job for public prosecutors to track down those criminals?