Spammers required to pay $200,000; 419 scammers face prison sentence.
The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has settled a court case with a spamming advertising company. According to the FTC,
Member Source Media
used deceptive emails and online advertising to lure customers to its websites. The settlement requires
Member Source Media
to disclose all costs and obligations associated with the products and services it advertises, bans it from sending emails that violate the CAN-SPAM Act and requires it to pay $200,000 in civil penalties.
Meanwhile, three African defendants have pled guilty in a US court to defrauding a total of $1.2 million from US citizens through a series of 419 scams. The two Nigerian defendants and one Senegalese man were charged with a combination of conspiracy, wire fraud and email fraud. A fourth defendant fled to Nigeria but is being held by Nigerian authorities pending extradition to the US.
The scam was originally uncovered by Dutch authorities and the men were arrested in Amsterdam in 2006. The men face a maximum penalty for mail and wire fraud of 20 years in prison, while the conspiracy charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison.
Posted on 01 February 2008 by
Virus Bulletin
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