U.S. charges four under new law against 'spam' e-mails [but not the 'male enlargement' spammer]

SFGate ^ | 4/28/04

[11th Earl of Mar]

U.S. charges four under new law against 'spam' e-mails

TED BRIDIS, AP Technology Writer Wednesday, April 28, 2004

(04-28) 17:22 PDT WASHINGTON (AP) --

U.S. authorities charged four people in Detroit on Wednesday with e-mailing fraudulent sales pitches for weight-loss products, the first criminal prosecutions under the government's new "can spam" legislation.

Court papers identified the four as Daniel J. Lin, James J. Lin, Mark M. Sadek and Christopher Chung, all believed living in suburban Detroit. They were accused of disguising their identities in hundreds of thousands of sales pitches and delivering e-mails by bouncing messages through unprotected relay computers on the Internet. ..."He was absolutely shocked," Feinberg said. He said Sadek will plead innocent to the criminal charges, which have not yet been challenged in court.

... Authorities said their company sold a weight-loss patch under the corporate names AIT Herbal, Avatar Nutrition, Phoenix Avatar and others. The company allegedly operated out of Detroit and nearby communities of West Bloomfield and Birmingham.

"These people were sending spam e-mails to at least a million people," Balaya said....

Investigators said they consulted Dr. Michael D. Jensen, a medical professor at the Mayo Medical School, who confirmed that ingredients in the weight-loss product sold in the disputed e-mails wouldn't work....

.....

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Associated Press writer Adrienne Schwisow in Detroit contributed to this report.

[11th Earl of Mar]

How skinny were these people?

I want them to catch the penis enlargement guy to see if his product really works.

And the mortgage guy to see if he has the lowest mortgage.

[dodger]

Believe me, the product really works!

[11th Earl of Mar]

Are you talking about weight loss or a lower mortgage?

[dodger]

Just joshin'.

[gopheraj]

No kidding! I just wish they'd make up their minds whether or not I need bigger boobs or a bigger !. LOL

[Drango]

The so called "can spam" legislation is a joke. My spam has increased. They are charging fraud here. What about SPAM rather than fraud? Clearly identified spammers are operating with impunity.

[PackerBoy]

In Ohio, you can sue the spammer for civil damages ($100 per violation, and most emails have multiple violations of the law), plus attorney's fees and court costs.

Finding the culprits ... that's another thing.

[The Great RJ]

Spam is bad enough, but there is even a greater menace in so-called adware. Just visiting certain sites puts tracking software on your computer without your knowledge or consent. The worst offenders hijack your web browser, install unwanted software and spy on your movements on the Internet. No, I do not wear an aluminum foil hat-- this stuff is real and makes a mess of your computer. My son had to literally hack the registry on my computer to root out one of the nastier versions.

Regular anti-virus software does not detect or remove this stuff, but there are several good free programs that do. In some states the perpetrators could be charged with electronic trespassing if you have intellectual property of value on your computer, but these are rarely if ever enforced.

[TheBattman]

AdAware and SpyBot are two great pieces of free software to tack down and get rid of such spyware....

[Jeff Gordon]

Believe me, the product really works!

Do "male enlargement" products also increase the user's shoe size?

[Arthur McGowan]

Spam stopped for about 48 hours, it seemed to me. Then it resumed as always, or got worse.

[ride the whirlwind]

U.S. authorities charged four people...

Well, that's a start, now keep going!

[LouD]

Finding spammers is problematic. We ought to punish the 1 in 10,000 bonehead that actually buys what they're selling and makes their business model viable.

[steve-b]

I want them to catch the penis enlargement guy to see if his product really works.

Preferably by giving it to his cell mate.