Yahoo! Inc announced
that the company has been awarded a $610 million default judgment against
spammers responsible for a fake lottery email scheme. The case began in 2008
and the verdict was read on December 5, 2011.
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E-Commerce Facts
According to Yahoo!, the order was handed down by a
federal district court judge in New York. The judge found the defendants
violated the CAN-SPAM Act.
Yahoo explained about the scam:
“This type of lottery scam is a hoax designed to trick
unsuspecting email users into revealing valuable personal data such as
passwords, credit card information, and social security numbers. The
perpetrators typically use the stolen information to access recipients' bank
accounts and credit cards, to apply for unauthorized credit cards or loans, or
to fraudulently create documents bearing the victims' personal identification
and then use or sell it in a wide variety of credit and identity scams. Some of
the "winners" are also deceived into sending the defendants money for
processing and mailing charges.”
Winning
the Case: So What?
If this case is going to be made into a movie, “Yahoo”
must be the name of the protagonist. Yahoo must appear as the person that saved
the people who have been fooled by their own kind. The title of the movie would
be “Rescuer from Spammers”.
Yahoo made this case a milestone for users and spammers.
Users now give their trust back to Yahoo. Users will feel that Yahoo is doing
all the ways and means to protect them from spammers. On the other hand,
spammers become extra-cautious. They now minimize (if not stop) using Yahoo,
with fear of getting sued.
The case gave justice to both Yahoo and its users.
Yahoo, whose name has been used by the defendants, and the involved users
receive what is due them. Yahoo did not
mention ways on how the company will share the news (and the cash) to the users
who have been corrupted by the spammers.
What’s
next for Yahoo?
Christian Dowell, legal director, Global Brand
Protection, stated on the press release:
“Yahoo! takes the protection if its users and its brand
very seriously. Our ultimate goal is to ensure that users continue to trust
Yahoo! as the leading U.S. email provider.”
Dowell used the word “seriously”. How serious is
serious?
"The anti-spam program of Yahoo revolves around three
main features: live spam-free, stop virus cold and avoid phishing. To sell the
three stuffs, Yahoo states on its website: “Yahoo! Mail includes top-notch, award-winning protection to help keep you
safe online. Our free and premium tools fight against spam, viruses, phishing,
and more. And with our constantly evolving security, you're always one step
ahead of intruders. Find out more.”
It is the action of Yahoo
that matters here. Not the programs since almost all companies claim to have a
program that protects them and their users from spammers. It is the effort in
looking for these spammers and file them a legal suit. It is the effort to
fight for those who have received the fake emails. This must be a very great
Christmas gift of Yahoo to its users. And the Christmas lesson for spammers? Continue
spamming if you have $610 millions in the bank.