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Facebook Awarded $711 Million Judgment Against Spammer

Facebook has won a second big judgment against a spammer. This time around, the social network has been awarded $711 million in damages against a man who used a phishing scheme to get access to user accounts and then sent out fake Wall posts and messages, according to Facebook’s PR team. Court records show the judgment is actually a bit of a letdown for the social network, which had initially asked a court for $7.5 billion in damages—a request the judge denied, saying it was not “proprortionate” to the man’s offense.

Nevertheless, if Facebook could collect, this type of lawsuit would still be a really big money maker for the company. Last November, a judge awarded Facebook $873 million in a separate spam case brought against a man who sent unwanted “sleazy” messages to Facebook users. Unsurprisingly, Facebook says it does not expect to receive all these millions. However, the company does say it’s “confident that today’s ruling will act as a powerful deterrent against those who would abuse Facebook and its users”—and it’s taking the opportunity to remind everybody about its efforts to combat spam.

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Oct 29, 2009 8:39 PM ET

Facebook Fraud Photo: Flickr

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Posted In: Legal, Social Media, Companies, Facebook

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