TELECOM Digest OnLine - Sorted: California Governor Says Phishers to be Punished

California Governor Says Phishers to be Punished

Reuters News Wire (reuters@telecom-digest.org)
Mon, 3 Oct 2005 14:33:49 -0500

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill on Friday making
Internet "phishing" identity theft scams punishable by law.

The bill, advanced by state Sen. Kevin Murray, is the first of its
kind in the United States and makes "phishing" -- getting people to
divulge personal information via e-mail by representing oneself as a
business without the approval or authority of the business -- a civil
violation.

Victims may seek to recover actual damages or $500,000 for each
violation, depending upon which is greater.

Phishing often involves the use of names of legitimate banks,
retailers and financial institutions to convince recipients of bogus
e-mail offers to respond.

Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited.

NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the
daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at
http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new
articles daily.

Post Followup Article Use your browser's quoting feature to quote article into reply
Go to Next message: Jefferson Graham: "Video Laced Webstes Evolve Into Pseudo-TV Stations"
Go to Previous message: Anick Jesdanun: "Travel Industry Gets New Online Domain"
TELECOM Digest: Home Page