Yahoo sues lottery spammers

May 28, 2008 (Computerworld) Yahoo Inc. has filed a lawsuit against unidentified spammers for allegedly perpetrating e-mail scams designed to trick unsuspecting users into revealing personal information including credit card and Social Security numbers.

The lawsuit against the "Yahoo Lottery Spammers," which includes 25 unidentified companies and 25 unidentified individuals, was filed on May 16 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York under the Federal Trademark Act, the Federal CAN-SPAM Act and related state laws, according to a company statement released today.

Yahoo is trying to determine the identities of the scammers, some of whom may be located outside of the U.S. The spammers used third-party e-mail providers, such as The Go Daddy Group Inc. and EarthLink Inc., to allegedly send fraudulent e-mails to Internet users, according to court documents.

Yahoo, which is seeking a jury trial, wants the alleged scammers to forfeit their profits and pay damages.

In the lawsuit, Yahoo alleges that the spammers unlawfully sent e-mails to users trying to trick them into believing that they had won a lottery or prize offered by Yahoo that would be paid in U.S. dollars or British pounds. But Yahoo said it doesn't offer such awards and has no connection or affiliation to the spammers. The "Yahoo International Lottery Organization," supposedly based in Bangkok, is listed in one of the e-mails as the awarding organization.

But Yahoo may have its work cut out for it because it can be difficult, if not impossible, to find the spammers, particularly if they're located outside the U.S.

"It's very hard to bring a successful enforcement action against spammers or phishers or others like them because even if you win as a matter of law, then you have to be able to enforce the judgment and typically that's very difficult to do," said Eric Goldman, assistant professor and director of the High Tech Law Institute at the Santa Clara University School of Law. "If they're outside of the U.S., it makes it hard ... because even if you win the judgment, it's effectively impossible to enforce that judgment against non-U.S. defendants."

Yahoo said the spammers are allegedly involved in a "phishing" scam to get users to reveal their personal information, which the scammers can then use to access the users' bank accounts and credit cards and to apply for unauthorized credit cards.

In addition, Yahoo said the scammers tricked the "winners" into sending money for "processing and mailing" charges. According to the lawsuit, the hoax e-mails included the subject headings "Yahoo Award Notification" and "Yahoo Mail congratulations."

"The unauthorized use of Yahoo's trademarks is misleading, fraudulent, and has actually confused, misled, and deceived the public," said Joe Siino, senior vice president of Yahoo's global IP and business strategy, in the statement. "Yahoo will vigorously enforce its intellectual property rights and will not tolerate lottery hoax e-mails," Siino said.