CASH & CREDIT 9

The proprietors of Hotmail had no illusions about their customers. Though most of them were bona fide, genuine people who merely wanted to protect their ultimate identities from the hazards of the Internet, some were sleazy, and even sinister, the alias provided by Hotmail designed to hide to their abuse of the facilities readily available.

The forms these abuses took were many. Some customers sought to obscure the fact that they subscribed to the vast array of hardcore pornography. Some used the opportunity to abuse others by e-mail; others were tax-avoidance punters, whose activities were none the less easily monitored by the Inland Revenue, as they would find out at a later date. The list went on and on. Abuse was common. Thus, Hotmail was not surprised when Susan contacted them about Leo.