Originally published March 21 2005
Multinational anti-spam, anti-phishing effort involves 26 nations
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
More than 70 law-enforcement agencies representing 26 nations conducted a joint "sweep" of the Internet in February, searching for spam artists and phishing operations. The United Kingdom's Office of Fair Trading says it will use the information obtained to develop strategies with its overseas partners to fight spam and phishing.
UK consumers are increasingly being targeted by phishers, spammers and scammers from overseas, the Office of Fair Trading has said - as it released initial results of the first global internet sweep of spam at a meeting of the International Consumer Protection and Enforcement Network (ICPEN) in Edinburgh.
Over 70 law-enforcement agencies across 26 countries joined forces last month in the first ever coordinated sweep of the worldwide web for scammers using spam to target consumers.
This was also the first time that ICPEN has linked up with the signatories of the London Action Plan (LAP), a dedicated network of spam enforcement agencies, and the computer industry.
The OFT will use the sweep results to develop strategies, in conjunction with domestic and overseas partners in the public and private sectors, to combat spammers and reduce harm to consumers and legitimate e-commerce.
It is estimated that bulk unsolicited electronic messages, or spam, accounts for over 70 per cent of all e-mail traffic on the internet.
The OFT and its partner organisations reviewed spam mailings generated over a period of three weeks.
Internet users are being targeted by fraudulent emails seeking financial details; scam lottery mailings; illicit sales of pharmaceutical products and miracle health cures, among other misleading mailings.
We will work in conjunction with our partners from the London Action Plan network to enforce the law against scammers and clean up the internet, and to cut off scammers' route to market by helping consumers to protect themselves against fraudulent claims in spam messages.'
If consumers believe they have been the victims of e-mail scams they can report it to their local trading standards department or at www.econsumer.gov, ICPEN's global online database for cross-border complaints.
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