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Hall of Shame – The Bad Boys of Email Spam |
by:
Paul Judge, CTO, CipherTrust, Inc. |
The majority of Unsolicited Commercial Email (UCE) or “spam” is sent byrelatively small group of dedicated professional spammers. The Register of Known Spam Operations (ROKSO) indicates that eightzero% of all spam comes from just twozerozero known spam operations. This data is in line with research completed by CipherTrust research scientists, which indicates that most spam originates fromrelatively small group of tightly integrated spam networks. While we’re all very familiar withspam messages we receive each day, it is interesting to takelook at who these spammers are – to put“face” toproblem. Following are four ofmost notorious and prolific spammers inworld.
Alan Ralsky
Mr. Ralsky is currently one ofmost egregious spam senders inworld. His organization, based in Michigan since oneninenineseven, uses Chinese, European and US-based servers to host and send spam to millions of email boxes daily. But that’s not enough for Ralsky. Not only does he operate asspammer, but he also provides hosting services to other spammers.
In twozerozerotwo, Verizon sued Mr. Ralsky for causing their network to freeze twice. The lawsuit originally sought $threeseven million, but was settled out of court forundisclosed amount. Ralsky is no longer allowed to send email over Verizon’s networks, but admits no wrongdoing incase and has vowed to continue sending bulk email.
Mr. Ralsky was convicted in onenineninefour for falsifying documents to defraud two banks in Michigan and Ohio and was fined $sevenfour,zerozerozero. Inunrelated case in onenineninetwo, Ralsky was sentenced to fivezero days in jail and ordered to pay $onetwozero,zerozerozero in restitution for failing to delivercontract involving unregistered securities.
While Mr. Ralsky sends millions of unsolicited email messages selling everything from diet pills to online gambling, he claims that his business is legitimate and that his emails are not spam. He also insists that he does not sell pornography. We’re sure he’sabsolutely charming fellow.
Scott Richter
Scott Richter’s Denver-based company, OptinRealBig, is responsible for sending out billions of spam emails. He is one ofmost outspoken and notorious spammers in business today. Whereas most spammers attempt to keeplow profile, often denying any involvement in spam, Richter seems to enjoyspotlight. In fact, Richter even attempted to start up“Spam King” clothing line before Hormel (the company responsible for bringing delicious canned Spam to dining rooms aroundworld) putend to his trademark-infringing idea.
Richter and his partners were named inlawsuit filed byNew York Attorney General and Microsoft. That suit, filed in twozerozerothree, sought millions of dollars in punitive damages, but was settled out of court in mid-twozerozerofour withpaltry fine of $fivezero,zerozerozero. For quite some time, Richter regarded his legal entanglements as excellent advertising for his company which, he claimed, gains value each time he is sued.
Recently he has changed his story somewhat. Faced with prolonged lawsuits led by Microsoft as well as various state and corporate entities, Richter has now declared bankruptcy. As his father (who is also his attorney) said, "It’slegal fees that are batteringcompany. OptIn is profitable but for these lawsuits."
Andrew Westmoreland
An apparent accomplice of Scott Richter, Westmoreland’s Texas-based company, Internet Access Group Inc., sends millions of spam messages pushing everything from gas to online diploma mills to auto loans and mortgages. His business also operates undernames Brilliant Marketing, Aphrodite Marketing, OptiGate Networks and Players Exchange Club.
Robert Soloway
Robert Soloway’s Oregon-based company, Newport Internet Marketing Corporation, has sent millions of spam emails and has beensubject of numerous complaints and lawsuits by class action groups and Microsoft.
Soloway’s spam messages often contain get-rich-quick schemes selling (what else?) spam software and “fresh” email addresses. Yes, that’s right folks; you too can send spam to onefive million recipients for just $twoninefive. At least that’s whatad says, but would you want to give your credit card number to someone like this?
SlamDoor on Spam
This is justsmall sampling ofquestionable characters who insist on clogging your inbox with junk email. While these may be some ofmost egregious offenders, there are plenty more waiting inwings who would like nothing more than to be considered equally offensive. As these new spammers rise throughranks, we’ll keep you posted on who they are, and what kind of shady business they’re up to.
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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