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Rise of the Spam
Zombies When an unwitting user execute these "Trojans" on their PCs--the Trojan listens on a randomly-chosen port and using its built-in mail client to dash off a message, ie; to a Yahoomail account together with the victim computer port number and IP address in the subject line. The spammers uses the
information and relay as much email as they can through the captured
computer, knowing that mails being traced will lead to the hijacked
Internet Address.
AOL
spammer pleads guilty to forgery |
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Evil spammers jailed for two years
AOL wins $7m in porn spam case AOL brought the case against CN Productions, alleging it had sent unwanted emails advertising adult Web sites and spamming its users--accounting for a quarter of all junk email complaints and had generated as much as $8m in "illegal gains". In a statement Randall Boe, executive VP and General Counsel of AOL, said: "This is an important legal victory in the fight against spam and it sends a clear, distinct message to spammers: AOL is prepared to use all of
the legal and technological tools available to shut down spammers who
inundate the mailboxes of AOL members with unwanted and often offensive junk
e-mail.
Earthlink brings down the Buffalo Spammer Earthlink, also alleged that "Carmack" and accomplices used "banking fraud, identity theft, stolen credit cards" and other illegal activities to fraudulently purchase Internet accounts and send out UCE (unsolicited commercial emails). According to Earthlink, "Carmack" assumed the identities of innocent third-parties to disguise his own involvement in these illegal activities. Pete Wellborn, Earthlink lawyer said; "Permanent injunction against
sending out spam is much more important than the damages, Carmack is not
going to be spamming anybody else". |
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In 1997, "Earthlink" won a $2 million judgment against über-spammers. Sanford Wallace--"most prolific spammer" and his company Cyber Promotions. In 2002, "Earthlink" received a $25 million judgment against K.C. Smith--He was accused of sending out as many as one billion "spam" email messages.
K.C. Smith agreed to pay US$107,510 The Securities and Exchange Commission said K.C. Smith, a 20-year-old Oak Grove, Kentucky resident, agreed to the settlement to charges that he illegally promoted some investment schemes as government-guaranteed. An SEC complaint alleges that Smith "Created websites for two fictitious investment opportunities... offering double-digit monthly returns on investments purportedly insured by the "United States Deposit Insurance Corporation" or USDIC, another entity invented by Smith. The SEC said that none of the money Smith raised through the sites was invested and none of it was insured. Smith used the money he raised to pay his personal living expenses.
"Buffalo
Spammer" Arrested "He is a predicate felon and he's somebody we believe could face jail time if convicted." New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer heralded the case as the first criminal prosecution of a spammer under New York's six-month-old identity-theft statute. Spitzer said; "Spammers who forge documents and steal the identity of others to create their e-mail traffic will be prosecuted." EarthLink VP of law and public policy Dave Baker said in a statement;
"Howard Carmack's arrest demonstrates that spamming has both civil and
criminal consequences. Simply put, spammers who brazenly disregard the law
will wind up in jail." See: Tracking Email - Can bulk or mass email marketers overcome the problem of mail server Port 25 blocking or mail servers spam filters by using faked or forged email headers, IP's or email domain with no MX Records? See: My email was hijacked / spoofed and got blacklisted?
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