tly ban spyware. Several federal laws deal with spyware. These include the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, which covers any unauthorized software installations; The Federal Trade Commission Act, which deals with deceptive trade practices; and the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, which makes it illegal for companies to violate the security of customers' personal information. Unfortunately, these laws are very hard to enforce.
PHISHING

Phishing is a term used to describe email scams that attempt to trick consumers into disclosing personal and/or financial information. The email messages appear to be from legitimate sources, such as banks, credit card issuers, or well-known Internet sites (such as America Online, Paypal, and eBay). The content of the messages varies, but often they tell the consumer that he needs to update personal information or that there is a problem with the consumer's account. The messages usually contain links to fake websites. When the user clicks the link, they are taken to websites that look official, and may even include images from the legitimate websites. These fake websites often instruct the unsuspecting user to enter credit card numbers, social security numbers, bank personal identification numbers (PINs), and other valuable information. Once the user enters that information, the violators use it or sell it. This leads to what is known as identity theft. The scammers use this information to assume the identity of the victims to make purchases in that person's name.

It is estimated