According to reports sweeping the net, lawyers from Microsoft's Internet Safety Enforcement Team have been working with the Washington State Attorney General's Office and are set to announce a number of lawsuits against high-profile offenders.
The spammers in question are likely to be those that that use scare tactics, suggesting that computer users are suffering from problems which are in fact non-existent.
If the claims are true, the spammers will be charged under Washington's Computer Spyware Act.
The targeted 'scareware' is pop-up advertisements which suggest that the user's PC is infected in some way. The pop-ups then offer a solution, which the user is prompted to download.
The 'solution' is often a Microsoft programme, something that the firm is keen to distance itself from, while at other times it is simply a piece of spyware.
Washington's Attorney General has a history of such activity. In 2006 the office successfully sued a firm called Secure Computer LLC for breaking the Spyware Act.
At that time Washington State attorney general Rob McKenna said: "Spyware purveyors and spammers routinely conceal their identities with layers of real or fake intermediaries in an effort to thwart law enforcement.
"But there is a good reason why Washington is known as a leader in hi-tech consumer fraud cases. If you try to trick consumers by assisting a spyware vendor, you are asking to be prosecuted."
Announcements from both parties concerning the rumours are likely to happen today.
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