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A US district court has ordered the largest "spam gang" in the world to pay nearly $15.2 million (£9.4 million) for sending unsolicited email messages marketing male-enhancement pills, prescription drugs and weight-loss supplements, the US Federal Trade Commission said Monday.
Spamhaus, the antispam organisation, called the email marketing network the "No. 1 worst spam gang" on the Internet for much of 2007 and 2008.
Australian resident Lance Atkinson, the spam ring's leader, has paid more than $80,000 to New Zealand authorities after confirming his involvement in the spam network, and accomplice Jody Smith, a US resident, has agreed to an order that he turn over nearly all his assets to the FTC, the agency said.
In October 2008, a judge in the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, ordered an asset freeze and a halt to the network's operation, which generated more than 3 million complaints to law enforcement authorities, the FTC said.
Earlier this month, the court issued a default judgment against Atkinson, his company, and three companies affiliated with Smith. In addition to the $15.2 million that Atkinson and his company have been ordered to pay, the three companies affiliated with Smith are liable for nearly $3.8 million.
Atkinson and Smith recruited spammers from around the world, according to the FTC’s complaint, filed last year. Those spammers sent billions of e-mail messages directing consumers to websites operated by an affiliate program called Affking, according to the complaint. The spammers used false header information to hide the origin of the messages and failed to provide an opt-out link or list a physical postal address, violations of the US CAN-SPAM Act, the FTC said.
The spam network, using the Canadian Healthcare brand name and other labels, marketed a male-enhancement pill, prescription drugs and a weight-loss pill, the FTC said. The e-mail messages falsely claimed that the medications came from a US-licensed pharmacy that dispenses US Federal Food and Drug Administration-approved generic drugs.
The defendants did not operate a pharmacy licensed in the US, the FTC said. The drugs they sold were shipped from India and had not been approved by the FDA, the agency.
http://news.techworld.com/security/3207888/******-spam-gang-fined-152m-in-us-court/?olo=rss
Spamhaus, the antispam organisation, called the email marketing network the "No. 1 worst spam gang" on the Internet for much of 2007 and 2008.
Australian resident Lance Atkinson, the spam ring's leader, has paid more than $80,000 to New Zealand authorities after confirming his involvement in the spam network, and accomplice Jody Smith, a US resident, has agreed to an order that he turn over nearly all his assets to the FTC, the agency said.
In October 2008, a judge in the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, ordered an asset freeze and a halt to the network's operation, which generated more than 3 million complaints to law enforcement authorities, the FTC said.
Earlier this month, the court issued a default judgment against Atkinson, his company, and three companies affiliated with Smith. In addition to the $15.2 million that Atkinson and his company have been ordered to pay, the three companies affiliated with Smith are liable for nearly $3.8 million.
Atkinson and Smith recruited spammers from around the world, according to the FTC’s complaint, filed last year. Those spammers sent billions of e-mail messages directing consumers to websites operated by an affiliate program called Affking, according to the complaint. The spammers used false header information to hide the origin of the messages and failed to provide an opt-out link or list a physical postal address, violations of the US CAN-SPAM Act, the FTC said.
The spam network, using the Canadian Healthcare brand name and other labels, marketed a male-enhancement pill, prescription drugs and a weight-loss pill, the FTC said. The e-mail messages falsely claimed that the medications came from a US-licensed pharmacy that dispenses US Federal Food and Drug Administration-approved generic drugs.
The defendants did not operate a pharmacy licensed in the US, the FTC said. The drugs they sold were shipped from India and had not been approved by the FDA, the agency.
http://news.techworld.com/security/3207888/******-spam-gang-fined-152m-in-us-court/?olo=rss
