America Online has filed civil lawsuits against three gangs (in Germany, Romania, and the U.S.) that obtained private identity information, such as credit card numbers and passwords, through phishing - the first such legal action by a major U.S. portal, writes Red Herring. The case will be filed under the federal Computer Fraud & Abuse Act as well as Lanham Act statutes governing trademark law in the U.S.
AOL is apparently accusing the gangs of using illegal copies of legitimate websites to lure consumers into divulging personal information - but it is not filing charges regarding the use of the stolen information, which would be much more complicated to prove.
According to the Anti-Phishing Working Group, there are only about 28 large, full-time gangs that are responsible for a large portion of phishing activity.
