America Online has begun a campaign to identify and block fraudulent Web sites that attempt to solicit personal information from visitors, it says. The crackdown against so-called "phishing" sites is being conducted in partnership with online security provider Cyota, which provides antifraud services for financial institutions. AOL and Cyota will try to identify potential phishing sites and limit access to them from AOL"s client software, the companies say.
AOL wants to block access to sites that spoof pages from its own service, as well as those that imitate other legitimate businesses such as banks, credit card providers, and online auctioneers. AOL subscribers can report suspected phishing sites by using a "report spam" button in AOL"s software, and users who try to access known phishing sites will be notified that they are visiting a potentially dangerous site, AOL says.