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| top spammer arrested (Page 1/8) |
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Gokart Mozart
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MAY 31, 01:12 PM
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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/...on_hi_te/spam_arrest
Man described as a top spammer arrested By GENE JOHNSON, AP Legal Affairs Writer
Thu May 31, 8:02 AM ET
A 27-year-old man described as one of the world's most prolific spammers was arrested Wednesday, and federal authorities said computer users across the Web could notice a decrease in the amount of junk e-mail.
Robert Alan Soloway is accused of using networks of compromised "zombie" computers to send out millions upon millions of spam e-mails.
"He's one of the top 10 spammers in the world," said Tim Cranton, a Microsoft Corp. lawyer who is senior director of the company's Worldwide Internet Safety Programs. "He's a huge problem for our customers. This is a very good day."
A federal grand jury last week returned a 35-count indictment against Soloway charging him with mail fraud, wire fraud, e-mail fraud, aggravated identity theft and money laundering.
Soloway pleaded not guilty Wednesday afternoon to all charges after a judge determined that — even with four bank accounts seized by the government — he was sufficiently well off to pay for his own lawyer.
He has been living in a ritzy apartment and drives an expensive Mercedes convertible, said prosecutor Kathryn Warma. Prosecutors are seeking to have him forfeit $773,000 they say he made from his business, Newport Internet Marketing Corp.
A public defender who represented him for Wednesday's hearing declined to comment.
Prosecutors say Soloway used computers infected with malicious code to send out millions of junk e-mails since 2003. The computers are called "zombies" because owners typically have no idea their machines have been infected.
He continued his activities even after Microsoft won a $7 million civil judgment against him in 2005 and the operator of a small Internet service provider in Oklahoma won a $10 million judgment, prosecutors said.
U.S. Attorney Jeff Sullivan said Wednesday that the case is the first in the country in which federal prosecutors have used identity theft statutes to prosecute a spammer for taking over someone else's Internet domain name. Soloway could face decades in prison, though prosecutors said they have not calculated what guideline sentencing range he might face.
The investigation began when the authorities began receiving hundreds of complaints about Soloway, who had been featured on a list of known spammers kept by The Spamhaus Project, an international anti-spam organization.
The Santa Barbara County, Calif., Department of Social Services said it was spending $1,000 a week to fight the spam it was receiving, and other businesses and individuals complained of having their reputations damaged when it appeared spam was originating from their computers.
"This is not just a nuisance. This is way beyond a nuisance," Warma said.
Soloway used the networks of compromised computers to send out unsolicited bulk e-mails urging people to use his Internet marketing company to advertise their products, authorities said.
People who clicked on a link in the e-mail were directed to his Web site. There, Soloway advertised his ability to send out as many as 20 million e-mail advertisements over 15 days for $495, the indictment said.
The Spamhaus Project rejoiced at his arrest.
"Soloway has been a long-term nuisance on the Internet — both in terms of the spam he sent, and the people he duped to use his spam service," organizers wrote on Spamhaus.org.
Soloway remained in federal detention pending a hearing Monday.
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ryan.hess
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MAY 31, 01:21 PM
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I have a better idea.
Take his email list, and make him send his money he made to those people.
Even if I only get 15 cents, I'll be happy.
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NEPTUNE
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MAY 31, 01:22 PM
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Oh great.
NOW where am I supposed to get my herbal Viagra?
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Pyrthian
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MAY 31, 01:23 PM
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yay
even tho my spam filter works pretty dang good - glad to see it
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84Bill
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MAY 31, 01:27 PM
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Impressive machine ya got there......
As as it is I dont understand the need for people to employ a stupendous buracricy and a moras of complex verbage to mask a simple task and make justifyable removal of onthers freedom.
It now costs alot of money and all we really ever needed to do is the seemingly impossible task that is done on a daily basis by clicking a "DELETE" button..
Stupid stupid... utterly stupid sheeple.. Their ignorance and industrious ingenuity never fails to stupify me.
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Pyrthian
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MAY 31, 01:36 PM
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| quote | Originally posted by 84Bill:
Impressive machine ya got there......
As as it is I dont understand the need for people to employ a stupendous buracricy and a moras of complex verbage to mask a simple task and make justifyable removal of onthers freedom.
It now costs alot of money and all we really ever needed to do is the seemingly impossible task that is done on a daily basis by clicking a "DELETE" button..
Stupid stupid... utterly stupid sheeple.. Their ignorance and industrious ingenuity never fails to stupify me. |
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for the end user - yes - "delete" works fine. but, for those of us running mail servers - it is a problem. spammers will hack in, and use MY mail server to send the spam out. this sucks up MY bandwidth - which I pay for. and, on the other side, I need to keep space available for every user - and when every user receives the same email repeatetly through the day - it takes up space. I have no problem whatsoever with someone mass emailing - I do have a problem when MY equipment is used to do it. and, even more so - when MY domain names get used in the reply address, so that MY server ends up on a blocked list.[This message has been edited by Pyrthian (edited 05-31-2007).]
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dguy
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MAY 31, 01:39 PM
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| quote | Originally posted by ryan.hess:
I have a better idea.
Take his email list, and make him send his money he made to those people.
Even if I only get 15 cents, I'll be happy. |
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Better yet, find him a cell mate who has had his equipment enlarged, owns a good supply of herbal viagra, and is looking for companionship.
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84Bill
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MAY 31, 01:48 PM
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| quote | Originally posted by Pyrthian:
but, for those of us running mail servers - it is a problem. |
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So you have a job... and you employ a gigantic machine to make it alot easier for you to do nothing and get paid... Wow... I'm impressed with the dizzying array of pipework, levers, lights and klaxons....
Stupid stupid... utterly stupid sheeple.. Their ignorance and industrious ingenuity never fails to stupify and further amaze me.
Sig test
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Suddenly awakend by the sound of a klaxon going off. 84Bill in a dazed stupor stumbled past the mirad of flashing red lights and pegged indicators to rip the klaxon of the wall.
Returning to his chair, adjusting his tinfoil hat and kicking his feet up, he was further relieved when the lights finally went out at the Knuckel Dragger County's "Goldfish" Nuclear Power Plant.
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Pyrthian
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MAY 31, 02:21 PM
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| quote | Originally posted by 84Bill:
So you have a job... and you employ a gigantic machine to make it alot easier for you to do nothing and get paid... Wow... I'm impressed with the dizzying array of pipework, levers, lights and klaxons....
Stupid stupid... utterly stupid sheeple.. Their ignorance and industrious ingenuity never fails to stupify and further amaze me.
Sig test
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a little bit simplistic - but yes. the switch does have a nice array of blinky lights - and one day, I may get the machine that goes "ding"
and - I have said it many times - yes - I dont work hard. sitting on my butt, and pushing a mouse around is NOT hard. talking on the phone is NOT hard. not many people can do what I do, but it is still NOT hard. but, no matter how ya slice, I bought & paid for the stuff to do what I want with it. I dont want someone else piggybacking on my goods. sucking up MY bandwidth and making MY domains end up on "blacklists". bandwidth is NOT cheap. and neither is the equipment. yes, it is easy to dismiss this, being there is no actual physical product to hold in your hand. but I invested alot in the equipment. I learned alot to use it. I hustled alot to get clients. yes, none of it hard. didnt get one bit dirty.
and, like I mentioned earlier - my spam filter does work pretty good. just one more thing I had to purchase, because of spammers. but, it did make my clients happier.
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Taijiguy
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MAY 31, 02:46 PM
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| quote | Originally posted by Pyrthian:
a little bit simplistic - but yes. the switch does have a nice array of blinky lights - and one day, I may get the machine that goes "ding"
and - I have said it many times - yes - I dont work hard. sitting on my butt, and pushing a mouse around is NOT hard. talking on the phone is NOT hard. not many people can do what I do, but it is still NOT hard. but, no matter how ya slice, I bought & paid for the stuff to do what I want with it. I dont want someone else piggybacking on my goods. sucking up MY bandwidth and making MY domains end up on "blacklists". bandwidth is NOT cheap. and neither is the equipment. yes, it is easy to dismiss this, being there is no actual physical product to hold in your hand. but I invested alot in the equipment. I learned alot to use it. I hustled alot to get clients. yes, none of it hard. didnt get one bit dirty.
and, like I mentioned earlier - my spam filter does work pretty good. just one more thing I had to purchase, because of spammers. but, it did make my clients happier. |
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Ahh, but that's not fair. The "haves" should have no choice but to share with the "have-nots". You're a selfish SOB for wanting to keep and use what belongs to you! [/sarcasm]
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