Microsoft sues alleged stock scammers
Published May 27th, 2007
Hoping to tackle the growing problem of pump-and-dump stock scams Microsoft has quietly filed lawsuits against at least three alleged perpetrators who it says used its MSN Hotmail networks to promote stocks.
Hotmail has “received large volumes of unsolicited commercial e-mail messages” promoting stocks for companies such as Distributed Power, TGC Ventures, China Biolife Enterprises, and Irwin Resources, according to court documents filed during April and May in King County Superior Court in Seattle.
Microsoft charges the defendants with violating the federal CAN-SPAM act as well as Washington state consumer protection laws, and is seeking unspecified damages, according to the filings.
Pump-and-dump e-mail scams are a form of fraud where the criminals purchase stock in a company — typically an inexpensive penny stock — and then promote the equity in millions of unsolicited email messages.
Related Articles
