Jun 18, 2004 : FTC Settles with Phishing Perpetrators

📅 June 18, 2004 - According to reports, the US Federal Trade Commission announced this week that several operators who used phishing attacks to con consumers into turning over private financial information have agreed to settle federal charges.

Phishing attacks involve the mass distribution of "spoofed" or forged email messages with return addresses, links, and branding which appear to come from banks, insurance agencies, retailers or credit card companies, but are designed to lead recipients towards fraudulent Web sites and trick them into divulging personal data such as account usernames, passwords, credit card numbers and social security numbers.
The settlements announced by the FTC reportedly barred two unnamed defendants from spending spam for life and required them to each pay a $125,000 fine. One of the defendants is also facing criminal charges filed by the Justice Department that could lead to prison time.
The defendants claimed to represent Internet service provider AOL in their scams. The defendants also reportedly posed as PayPal in a separate phishing scam.
According to research and analysis firm Netcraft (netcraft.com), < a href="http://thewhir.com/marketwatch/phi052604.cfm">phishing scams have been on the rise.