It’s not an acquisition, but Microsoft and Yahoo are working together. The two companies have teamed with Western Union and the African Development Bank in an tempt to battle lottery scams that arrive in e-mail spam.
Everyone’s received at least one of those mails, telling them they’ve won a lottery they’ve never entered, and that to claim their prize they need to provide bank details. Once given, those details can be used to clean out bank accounts and for identity theft.
Victims of scams will be able to share police reports, and both Microsoft and Yahoo have set up databases and the hope is this concerted effort will help law enforcement track down the scam perpetrators.
On Vnunet, George Hadjigeorgiou, Yahoo’s European general manager of communication and community products, said:
"At Yahoo, we’ve long told our users that if it sounds ‘too good to be true,’ it probably is. But as internet fraudsters continue to get more creative in their approaches, consumers continue to be deceived. This unique initiative is a continuation of our online safety and trust initiatives and is intended to help support our consumer awareness efforts."
