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Pastimes : Investment Chat Board Lawsuits -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: mmmary who wrote (2685)	4/5/2002 1:49:41 PM
From: Jeffrey S. Mitchell	Respond to of 12465

Re: 4/4/02 - Philadelphia Inquirer: AOL suit highlights danger of Internet theft Posted on Thu, Apr. 04, 2002 AOL suit highlights danger of Internet theft By Peter Sigal Inquirer Staff Writer A Philadelphia lawyer who was shocked by a sexually explicit description of his 13-year-old daughter in an America Online member profile has filed a defamation suit against the Internet provider. But AOL, which characterized the suit as "frivolous," said yesterday the real culprits are online identity thieves who are becoming more and more sophisticated. Joseph Finlay of Upper Southampton, Bucks County, said someone had apparently stolen his daughter's password last year and had been sending out bulk e-mail - spam - in her name, some of it with pornographic content. Finlay filed suit on behalf of his family on Tuesday in Bucks County Court, saying that AOL had damaged his daughter's reputation by failing to protect the family against identity theft. Finlay, who practices with Ledgewood Law Firm in Center City, said his daughter told him a few weeks ago that her friends had seen "terrible things" in her AOL member profile. When he called up the profile, he said, he was horrified. "I looked at it, and I was blown away," said Finlay. What he saw was sexually explicit and laced with profanity. Nicholas Graham, an America Online spokesman, said yesterday the company had received and reviewed the suit but found it to be "totally frivolous and totally without merit." "AOL intends to seek immediate dismissal in court," Graham said. He said Finlay's issues could "be simply resolved by contacting AOL's member-services department, not by filing frivolous lawsuits." But Graham said the Finlays appear to be victims of an increasingly common Internet scam, one in which seemingly innocent e-mails lure victims to official-looking Web sites that ask for passwords, credit-card numbers, and other confidential information. "The security and integrity of a member's account is up to the member," he said. "If they see an e-mail that asks for their password and billing information, we tell them to never give that out." Graham said a typical scam might work like this: An AOL member receives an e-mail notice that his or her billing information needs to be updated, with a Web link to the billing section included. The user, opening the link, finds an AOL interface asking for a credit-card number and expiration date. In reality, the Web page is a near-perfect copy created by a hacker who shuts the site down as soon as enough people fall victim, sometimes within a few hours, Graham said. "It's like a complete stranger knocking on your door and asking for your car keys, wallet and alarm code," he said. Finlay said his troubles with AOL began last year when the company began denying him access because the spam sent in his daughter's name - without her knowledge - violated his AOL service agreement. When he protested, saying she was even asleep or offline when the messages were sent, he was told that she must have given someone her password or that his computer was infected with a virus that enabled the information to be retrieved by someone else. Finlay said he installed anti-virus software and scolded his daughter, believing she had been careless. But the spam continued. Finally, on March 22, Finlay's service was cut off by AOL for good. "They told me it was the end of the road," he said. When he was unable to convince America Online that the whole thing was a mistake, he sent company president Steve Case an e-mail. He got back a form letter, via e-mail. "Obviously, no one even read it," he said. "They say it's not their problem." Internet security experts say that phony Web pages have become nearly indistinguishable from the real thing. "It's something that comes with new technology and criminal minds finding new and interesting ways to use this technology," said Ronda Ellcessor, a spokeswoman for the National White Collar Criminal Center, a federally funded group that tracks online fraud. Sarah Granger, a San Francisco-based security consultant, said service providers could do more to prevent identity theft. "One would think that [America Online] could create some sort of capability within their software for users to see what's in their e-mail before they open it. "This kind of thing is going to keep happening until there are really strict measures to stop it." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Contact Peter Sigal at 215-345-7768 or psigal@phillynews.com. philly.com