Yahoo! cracks down on eBay phishers

Yahoo! is upgrading its Mail system with DomainKeys technology, to block phishing spam and other fraudulent emails that look like they come from eBay and PayPal but don't.

The DomainKeys system works by verifying the domain of the sender of the email, allowing ISPs to block messages they deem illegitimate.

The upgrade is expected to be accomplished globally over the next few weeks.

Typically, the phishing scams masquerade as emails from trusted financial sources and direct a recipient to a website where they're asked to enter their username and password. From there, their information is stolen.

Although most companies warn their customers that they won't send unsolicited emails asking for usernames and passwords, many people are still fooled. Blocking the scam emails before they hit in-boxes should cut down on the problem.

Elinor Mills writes for CNET News.com