Oct 15, 2008 : FTC Shuts Down Giant Spam Network

📅 October 15, 2008 - The Federal Trade Commission announced on Tuesday it has shut down what it says is one of the world's largest spam operations, which includes a network of spammers from the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, China, India and Russia.
Authorities were bombarded by more than 3 million complaints concerning a barrage of emails they received soliciting various drugs such as male-enhancement pills, prescription drugs and weight-loss pills.IT security researchers notified the FTC that the spamming issue was spiraling out of control, and at one point, the spam network in question accounted for nearly one-third of all the world's spam.The news comes less than a week after the release of MessageLabs' recent report which discovered a brief plunge in spam following the shutdown of ISP Atrivo/Intercage, which hosted many malware and cyber criminal websites.The defendants are Lance Atkinson of Australia, and Jody Smith of Texas, as well as the four companies they control, which include Inet Ventures, Tango Pay, Click Fusion and TwoBucks Trading. Atkinson is being held responsible for all product claims, while Smith is liable for claims made for the pharmaceutical products, the FTC said.The defendants built their network by enlisting spammers around the world to send billions of spam emails that led consumers to websites operated by an affiliate program dubbed "Affking." The FTC said the alleged spammers used false subject headers to mask the contents of the emails, did not include an opt-out link and did not supply a physical mailing address, which all violate the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003.The defendants also used spam to promote prescription drugs, which claimed the medications stemmed from a legit US-licensed pharmacy that sell FDA-approved generic equivalents of Levitra, Avodart, Cialis, Propecia, Viagra, Lipitor, Celebrex and Zoloft. But the FTC said the defendants sold drugs that were shipped from India, and not supplied by a US-licensed pharmacy.The FTC adds that when its undercover employees attempted to make pharmacy purchases, they were not required to produce any proof of prescriptions, and the drugs they received lacked both dosage information and doctor's instructions.The commission also added that the defendants made false claims about credit card information security and other data needed to purchase the drugs.