Thursday, January 03, 2008

Notorious major spammer indicted

Alan Ralsky, at one time believed to be the top spammer in the world, has finally been indicted today by a federal grand jury. His home was raided back in 2005, and he's now been charged along with ten other people in "a wide ranging international fraud scheme involving the illegal use of bulk commercial e-mailing." Those indicted include James E. Bragg, 39, of Queen Creek, Arizona.

The indictment alleges that Ralsky's spam gang "tried to send spam" through botnets and engaged in a "pump and dump" stock scam for Chinese companies. The Detroit Free Press's coverage reports: "Prosecutors described Ralsky, 52, of West Bloomfield, as one of the most prolific spammers in the nation. Until 2005, when federal agents raided his home and seized his computers, his operation sent tens of millions of unsolicited email messages daily to Internet subscribers, hawking everything from sexual enhancement drugs, weight loss products and worthless stock, the government said. In the summer of 2005 alone, prosecutors said, his operation generated $3 million."

The DOJ press release is here.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

It's go great to see a spammer finally facing a jury of those who have undoubtedly received his spams. Most products and services advertised in spam e-mail are in one way or another are scams. Hopefully more spammers will be caught and brought to justice.

olvlzl said...

I wonder, was this the one who offered to render my phallus "so big you'll need a crane". I was left wondering why he didn't offer to supply the bird or the shell fish to feed it as well.

Never saw the practical advantage to it.

Tal Poleaf said...

If this is the guy who sold me the herbal viagra, I might just sue him as well. That's because I have lost all sorts of income due to the fact that my penis is now so huge I can't even leave my apartment.