LinkedIn today filed a federal lawsuit against Singapore-based Mantheos Pte. Ltd., and its founders for the alleged unauthorized scraping of millions of LinkedIn member profiles.

Mantheos is a business intelligence company providing data on individuals and companies.

“Using a network of hundreds of fake LinkedIn member accounts and virtual debit cards under fake names, Mantheos fraudulently obtained LinkedIn Sales Navigator subscriptions,” LinkedIn stated. “They then used these to scrape member profile information that is only available for viewing on our website in the logged-in environment by other real, logged-in LinkedIn members.”

LinkedIn said the actions violate the law as well as its User Agreement and Privacy Policy.

“In addition to filing this lawsuit, we have restricted the fake accounts, terminated Mantheos’s Sales Navigator subscriptions, and taken new measures to prevent this type of illegal abuse in the future,” it stated. “These actions are designed to protect the LinkedIn community and keep control of member data where it belongs: in the hands of our members.”