A phishing
site operator from Iowa has been sentenced to 21 month’s jail for
running a bogus MSN billing website.
Jayson Harris, 23,
was also ordered to pay $57,000 (£32,000) in damages. Harris had
pleaded guilty on two counts of wire fraud and fraud.
Harris operated
the bogus MSN billing website between January 2003 and June 2004,
encouraging visitors to the site using links in spam e-mail
messages.
The e-mails told
MSN customers that they could get a 50% discount on next month’s
service if they visited the bogus site, and updated their account
information and credit card numbers.
Microsoft tracked
down Harris and assisted in the FBI investigation into the
fraud.
Microsoft has
helped enforcement agencies in a number of cyber cases in the last
18 months, as it has ploughed resources into combating counterfeit
software, spam e-mail and phishing.