Microsoft has hired Paul Laudanski, the man behind the anti-phishing Castlecops.com Web site, to help with the software company’s phishing and spam investigations. He will be working for the Live Consumer Services group focusing on phishing, spam and general service abuse.

Laudanski, a former volunteer firefighter, announced the move on Castlecops.com last week, saying that he’s looking to find someone else to run the site that he founded in 2002.

He said in a statement: “I won’t be able to ensure the same kind of support that I was able to provide in the past. I won’t be able to do it justice.”