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BUSTED: Anti Spam Forces Bankrupt Super-Spammer Scott Richter |
by:
Paul Judge, CTO, CipherTrust, Inc. |
Microsoft scores one forgood guys
Scott Richter,self-proclaimed “Spam King,” just can’t seem to get enough attention. Admittedly responsible for sending literally billions of Unsolicited Commercial Email messages (UCE), Richter made headlines again recently when his spam-fed cash cow, OptInRealBig.com, filed for bankruptcy protection in U.S. federal court in his home state of Colorado. According to Richter’s father (who is also his attorney), “It’slegal fees that are batteringcompany. OptIn is profitable but for these lawsuits.”
Attime of its bankruptcy filing, OptInRealBig.com claimed assets of less than $onezero million and liabilities of over $fivezero million. Richter claimed his company made $onefive millionyear sending more than onefive million email messages per day. However, in twozerozerothree, OptInRealBig was dealtpowerful one-two punch from Microsoft and Eliot Spitzer,Attorney General of New York; both sued Richter under local state anti spam laws. AlthoughNew York case was settled out of court last year, Richter has had no such luck dealing with Microsoft, whose claims top $onenine million.
A Case of Global Amnesia?
Richter's company and others like it market products ranging from diet pills to pornography. He’s also been accused of using spam to extract personal information from unsuspecting recipients. For instance, one alleged scheme hatched by Richter and his associates promised recipientscopy of"Girls Gone Wild" DVD ifrecipient registered onwebsite. The registration information was then used to bombardrecipient with more and more spam.
Richter contends that his methods are all legal, and that he’s justregular guy trying to do right byworld; he’s even gone so far as to claim that he’s“victim” of overzealous anti spam companies and prosecutors. “We do not spam,” explained Richter inAugust twozerozerofour PC World interview. “The biggest problem is when people getemail that they think they did not sign up for or do not remember signing up for, and they call it spam.”
To hear Richter tell it, tens of millions of people simply forgot that they had previously asked to receive his messages. According tostate of New York, however, he falsified header information and used deceptive routing and domain purchase practices in order to get his messages through. The lawsuit also accused Richter of usingnetwork of approximately fivezerozero “zombie” computers to send his messages. When asked how so many users could have subscribed and not remember doing so, Richter claimedsignups must have been via anonymous "partners of our partners" web sites,names of which slipped his mind.
Not JustOnline Threat
Evidently not satisfied with stealing bandwidth, Richter also showspenchant for heavy equipment. Inunrelated twozerozerothree case, he was put on probation after pleading guilty tofelony charge of receiving stolen items worth more than $onezero,zerozerozero. According to court records,informant's tip regardingstolen Bobcat loader led undercover officers to Richter. Overcourse of onethree months,officers proceeded to strike deals with him forHonda generator, hundreds of cases of cigarettes, three laptop computers and other items, all offered at suspiciously low prices and purchased in some of Denver’s seediest neighborhoods. In addition to probation, Richter was also ordered to pay $threeeight,zerozerozero in restitution forstolen goods.
Despite his guilty plea, Richter maintains his innocence, saying he pleaded guilty tofelony charges because it was "easier to be done with it," and he had "too much stuff going on in my life."
What’s Next for Scott Richter?
The five-year-old OptInRealBig.com, which employed twofive people last year and had threefivezero clients, will continue to operate under Chapter oneone bankruptcy protection. Whilebankruptcy filing showspower of legislation and legal action from parties withvested interest in stopping spam, Richter is not likely to fade quietly intosunset. Under Chapter oneone bankruptcy laws,company must followcourt-supervised “debt rehabilitation” plan to pay off creditors, but is not required to modify its business practices. None of OptInRealBig’s assets will be liquidated, meaningcompany’s stable of spam cannons will remain active. The bottom line: Scott Richter will not be required to stop sending UCE inimmediate future, pending ongoing litigation intended to determine exactly what spam is in legal terms. Inmeantime,best defense against spam iscomprehensive gateway solution that will guard against all manner of email threats, especially spammers like Scott Richter.
Aboutauthor:
Dr. Paul Judge isnoted scholar and entrepreneur. He is Chief Technology Officer at CipherTrust,industry's largest provider of enterprise email security. The company’s flagship product, IronMail providesbest of breed enterprise anti spam solution designed to stop spam, phishing attacks and other email-based threats. Learn more by visiting www.ciphertrust.com/products/spam_and_fraud_protection today.
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