Microsoft Corp. has filed eight lawsuits against spammers, saying that they deceived consumers and used false information to hide their tracks, the world's largest software maker said on Thursday.
The lawsuits are the latest salvo in the Redmond, Washington-based company's war to eradicate unsolicited emails, which have clogged countless inboxes on personal computers running the Windows operating system. (MSNBC is a Microsoft - NBC joint venture.)
"These spammers sent millions of emails individually -- some hundreds of millions -- soliciting a variety of products including body enlargement pills, prescription drugs, dating services, university degree programs and work-at-home and get-rich-quick scheme offers," Microsoft said in a statement.
Microsoft has said it plans to try to eradicate spam by deploying technology, promoting legislation and suing spammers.
Microsoft, which filed its first major lawsuit against spammers last July, says it is pursuing more than 80 lawsuits around the world against senders of unsolicited e-mail. Of those, 51 lawsuits were brought in the United States.