Microsoft has brought 129 lawsuits against individuals suspected of stealing bank account data in the Emea region as it steps up its efforts to crack down on illegal phishing scams.
Further information on progress in the law courts was announced by Nancy Anderson, deputy general counsel at the software company at an EU conference on identity theft in Brussels.
In March, Microsoft said it had initiated more than 100 legal cases in Europe as part of a wider global campaign against online fraud.
Anderson told the Brussels conference that the actions had already led to a two-and-a-half year prison sentence for a phisher in Turkey and that another four cases had been settled out of court.
Of the 129 lawsuits that have been initiated, 97 are criminal procedures. The remainder are civil suits against miscreant teenagers which will generally be settled out of court.
In Emea, most of the investigations and 50 of the criminal charges were brought in Turkey. The UK led the civil orders with 18 out of a total 32.