Yahoo wants payback from a group of spammers who used its company’s name on a phishing scam. The only problem? They don’t know who the spammers are.
Yahoo filed a lawsuit against the unknown suspects, according to court documents detailed in an official announcement today.
The company claims the spammers sent unsolicited emails appearing to come from Yahoo and telling recipients they’d won money in a lottery drawing. The messages then instructed the users to click on a link to submit personal information and receive their prize. Yahoo says anyone who followed the process would end up being charged hundreds of dollars in processing fees to complete the transaction.
So how will Yahoo win against a defendant who isn’t known? Execs say they have info from a third-party email service that could track the culprits down.
“This lawsuit sends a clear message to spammers,” Yahoo Mail VP John Kremer explained in a pre-written statement.
“We are going after individuals who have attempted to negatively impact the e-mail experience for consumers across the Internet. Through our continued litigation efforts, our top goal and priority is to further protect Yahoo Mail users and the public from this type of fraudulent activity.”
