The 'invisible' Phising organizations were asked for compensation of 18 million USD

Yesterday, American Online (AOL) decided to sue the phishing gangs, claiming $ 18 million. These are organizations that specialize in tricking users into using e-mail, fake websites, the purpose of obtaining personal and financial information. Interestingly, even AOL has not clearly defined these organizations

In order to sue, AOL had to resort to a law of anti-phishing, launched in July 2005, of the state of Virginia. The lawsuit also uses federal laws related to branding and spam prevention.

AOL's goal is more than 30 organizations specializing in fraudulent practices, including many outside the United States. Through the lawsuit, AOL hopes to clarify the activities of these organizations. They also said that the number of "defendants" may not stop at 30 if the lawsuit proceeds.

The company accused some phishing organizations of sending e-mails with the aim of deceiving AOL and Compuserve users. The email contains a link to websites that, if at first glance, look very much like other famous companies' websites. The main goal is information about bank accounts, credit cards, even 'nick' AOL is also the goal.

A rather 'funny' thing is that Virginia's law does not allow individuals to sue phishing organizations. So, if AOL wins the case, it won't be beneficial for customers to be deceived. The money will be spent on . continuing litigation to gradually eliminate the current phishing situation.

AOL has collected more than 10,000 anonymous email messages as evidence for the lawsuit. Even so, the company has not identified the 'background' of these organizations.

Phishing is currently a very serious problem for societies like the United States, where the Internet has become one of the indispensable elements of social life, where e-commerce is one of ' 'spearhead service'.

The Anti-Phishing Working Group has identified more than 50,000 fraudulent websites mentioned above, and in December alone, 7,000 pages were discovered.

AOL will not be alone in this war.

TRAN HUY