California Law Targets Phishing Scams

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law on Friday a bill that makes "phishing," or identity theft, scams a civil offense. The law allows for victims to seek damages of up to $500,000 per violation. However, it's not clear how easy it would be to track down such scammers, which often operate overseas.

The bill was pushed through by California Senator Kevin Murray in order to help stem the growing tide of phishing scams taking advantage of novice Internet users. It will be the first attempt to legislate against phishing attacks, which may prove a difficult task. Like spam, phishers often forge e-mail headers and use other methods to hide a message's origin.