Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Internet Spam King Robert Soloway Arrested

The man known as the Spam King, Robert Soloway, was arrested after being indicted by a federal grand jury on ten counts of mail fraud, five counts of wire fraud, two counts of e-mail fraud, five counts of aggravated identity theft, and thirteen counts of money laundering.

Robert Soloway is the first spammer to be charged with aggravated identity theft under CAN-SPAM, an act that set national standards for sending commercial e-mail. The act also requires that the FTC enforce it.

Robert Soloway is the owner of Newport Internet Marketing. The spam sent out by him was used to promote the products and services sold by his company. When a legitimate businesses buy one of these products, it frequently turns out to be a spam tool.

If Robert Soloway is convicted as charged, he will face of maximum sentence of more than 65 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 (£126,307). Prosecutors are also trying to seize $773,000 (£390,542) that they claim was generated through spamming-related activities.


Phillip Edsion S. Baldevia
IV-Tau
July 2, 2007