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Yahoo has filed a lawsuit against an unknown group individuals, loosely called the “Yahoo Lottery Spammers,” for using the company’s name in an email scam that sought victim’s personal information and extorted money from purported winners. Yahoo is seeking to put an end to the individuals’ practices and unspecified damages.

These types of scams have been around for ages, so one has to wonder if a recent $234 million judgment for MySpace in a case against ‘spam king’ Sanford Wallace is the real motivator behind Yahoo’s decision to finally sue. How successful Yahoo’s suit will be is uncertain, however, as tracking down spammers can be notoriously difficult – even more so when the spammers are working overseas. In any case, that isn’t stopping the internet giant from at least trying.