Yahoo Japan files 34 mil. yen damages suit over phishing

Yahoo Japan Corp. has filed a lawsuit seeking 34 million yen in compensation from the 14 indicted members of a phishing ring that lured people to a fake Yahoo Japan auction site to steal personal information, the leading Internet search engine said Wednesday.

Yahoo Japan would like to contribute to the "health" of online auctions by assuming a tough stance on phishing activities, a company spokesman said in reference to the suit lodged with the Tokyo District Court.

In the first damages suit filed in Japan by an Internet auction site operator, Yahoo Japan wants to win damages from the 14 defendants to the amount it paid out to compensate the victims of the fraud.

According to the company, the fishing ring swindled 43 million yen from 285 people in total by using the stolen identities of auction users between July last year and April this year.

The group drew auction users to a fake Yahoo Japan site where they were requested to provide access IDs and other personal information.