Amazon sues 11 companies for identity fraud
Internet retailing giant Amazon has filed lawsuits in the US and Canada against 11 companies it alleges have stolen its identity to send out spam.
Link: ‘Mindless’ identity checks must stop
In what it said was a strong message to the spammers, Amazon has accused the companies of ‘spoofing’ to fool people into thinking that the online retailer had sent them emails.
Spoofing is a favoured ruse for spammers. It allows them to place false address headers on emails which fools people into thinking they come from a legitimate company.
This makes the recepient more likely to open the message, and also makes it harder to trace the origin of the emails.
‘Spoofers lie about who’s really sending these emails,’ said Amazon’s vice president, David Zapolsky, in a statement.
‘Spoofing is forgery and we’re going after spoofers to the full extent of the law.’
The company is seeking millions in punitive damages.
Zapolsky said the company has set up a special email account, [email protected], for consumers to report suspected spoofing involving Amazon.com
Amazon also said the New York Attorney General’s office has settled civil fraud charges with one of the spoofers identified by Amazon.com.
Cyebye.com has agreed to stop spoofing and will pay damages to Amazon. It will also have to keep records of all commercial e-mails it sends during the next two years and provide the New York Attorney General’s office with regular updates of its compliance with the settlement.