Seraphim
04-29-2004, 09:44 PM
Throw the book at them I say...I remember AOL gave away this porsche they seized from a spammer.
WASHINGTON (*******) - U.S. authorities said Thursday they had arrested two e-mail marketers and were searching for two others in the government's first use of a new law designed to crack down on "spam" e-mail.
U.S. agents have raided a Detroit-area operation accused of sending out millions of e-mail advertisements for a fraudulent weight-loss patch, the Federal Trade Commission said.
Daniel Lin, Mark Sadek, James Lin and Christopher Chung could face up to five years in jail under a new anti-spam law that took effect in January.
They also face mail-fraud charges, which carry a maximum 20-year sentence.
Through their company Phoenix Avatar, the four defendants earned nearly $100,000 per month selling a diet patch that had no effect at all, the FTC charged.
The defendants used the e-mail addresses of others to cover their tracks, a technique known as "spoofing," the FTC said.
Innocent e-mail users often are swamped by undeliverable return mail when their addresses are spoofed, the FTC said. Spoofing is illegal under the new anti-spam law.
The operation has been shut down and the defendants' assets frozen pending trial, the FTC said.
"These cases should send a strong signal to spammers that we are watching their operations and working together to enforce the law," FTC Chairman Timothy Muris said in a press release.
The FTC said it also filed charges to shut down an Australian operation that it said is responsible for massive amounts of spam in the United States.
The company, Global Web Promotions Pty Ltd., sold a similar diet patch and anti-aging products that experts say do not work, the FTC said.
Unwanted spam messages now account for more than half of all e-mail traffic, according to some estimates.
Daniel Lin, who has not yet been arrested, is listed as one of the Internet's most prolific spammers by the anti-spam group Spamhaus. James Lin has not yet been arrested either.
Four of the nation's largest e-mail providers used the new law to sue hundreds of marketers in March, but they only sought monetary damages, not prison sentences.
WASHINGTON (*******) - U.S. authorities said Thursday they had arrested two e-mail marketers and were searching for two others in the government's first use of a new law designed to crack down on "spam" e-mail.
U.S. agents have raided a Detroit-area operation accused of sending out millions of e-mail advertisements for a fraudulent weight-loss patch, the Federal Trade Commission said.
Daniel Lin, Mark Sadek, James Lin and Christopher Chung could face up to five years in jail under a new anti-spam law that took effect in January.
They also face mail-fraud charges, which carry a maximum 20-year sentence.
Through their company Phoenix Avatar, the four defendants earned nearly $100,000 per month selling a diet patch that had no effect at all, the FTC charged.
The defendants used the e-mail addresses of others to cover their tracks, a technique known as "spoofing," the FTC said.
Innocent e-mail users often are swamped by undeliverable return mail when their addresses are spoofed, the FTC said. Spoofing is illegal under the new anti-spam law.
The operation has been shut down and the defendants' assets frozen pending trial, the FTC said.
"These cases should send a strong signal to spammers that we are watching their operations and working together to enforce the law," FTC Chairman Timothy Muris said in a press release.
The FTC said it also filed charges to shut down an Australian operation that it said is responsible for massive amounts of spam in the United States.
The company, Global Web Promotions Pty Ltd., sold a similar diet patch and anti-aging products that experts say do not work, the FTC said.
Unwanted spam messages now account for more than half of all e-mail traffic, according to some estimates.
Daniel Lin, who has not yet been arrested, is listed as one of the Internet's most prolific spammers by the anti-spam group Spamhaus. James Lin has not yet been arrested either.
Four of the nation's largest e-mail providers used the new law to sue hundreds of marketers in March, but they only sought monetary damages, not prison sentences.