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'Buffalo Spammer' Arrested
Internet News.Com ^
| 5-14-03
Posted on 05/14/2003 9:04:16 AM PDT by mikenola
Howard Carmack, the notorious 'Buffalo Spammer' accused of sending more than 825 million unsolicited e-mails from illegal EarthLink (Quote, Company Info) accounts, has been arrested and arraigned in New York on four felony and two misdemeanor counts.
New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer is holding a conference call today in order to discuss the case and any precedents potentially involved with what could rank as the first major criminal prosecution of a spammer.
The arrest is the first state criminal prosecution of a spammer, and the first filed by the Attorney General under New York's recently enacted identity theft statute, according to Spitzer's office.
The arrest of Carmack comes just a week after the Atlanta-based ISP won a $16 million judgment against a spam ring he allegedly operated out of Buffalo, New York.
Carmack was accused of stealing credit cards and identities to fraudulently buy ISP accounts to send shady and unwanted e-mail. He is also accused of banking fraud and other illegal activities.
EarthLink VP of law and public policy Dave Baker applauded the decision by the N.Y. attorney general's office to arrest Carmack. "Howard Carmack's arrest demonstrates that spamming has both civil and criminal consequences. Simply put, spammers who brazenly disregard the law will wind up in jail," Baker said in a statement.
After a year-long investigation, EarthLink filed suit against Carmack, alleging that his crew sent out millions of e-mails that included advertisements for computer virus scripts, get-rich-quick and "work at home" schemes, software for bulk mailing and lists of addresses to be used by other spammers.
He was accused of assuming the identities of his own family members and innocent third-parties to "disguise his own involvement in these illegal activities."
EarthLink has a history of anti-spam success stories, including an injunction in 1997 against Sanford Wallace, then known as "most prolific spammer."
More to follow
TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Front Page News; News/Current Events; Technical
KEYWORDS: spam; spammers
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1
posted on
05/14/2003 9:04:16 AM PDT
by
mikenola
To: mikenola
2
posted on
05/14/2003 9:06:57 AM PDT
by
martin_fierro
(A v v n c v l v s M a x i m v s)
To: mikenola
...accused of sending more than 825 million unsolicited e-mails...
Make him eat 825 (one for each million) pieces of paper printed with his own spam messages.
3
posted on
05/14/2003 9:13:23 AM PDT
by
mr.pink
To: mikenola
Well I agree this guy was bad and should be prosecuted. He will however loose his right to carry a gun for protection because what he has done will make him a felon. (the fact he is in NY and they don't allow guns is beside the point as that's another issue) Could someone tell me why we need to prohibit gun ownership to felons across the board? Does this spammer pose a special danger by owning a gun?
I think they make too many crimes felonies. Felonies should be reserved for violent criminals.
4
posted on
05/14/2003 9:19:47 AM PDT
by
Khepera
(Do not remove by penalty of law!)
To: Khepera
I think that a lot of us would agree that there are too many laws on the books, and too many felony crimes.
However I doubt you'll find many people here who will have any problem with the Buffalo Spammer getting a felony conviction on his record.
Personally I hope he'll be convicted. And I hope this will be a message to other spammers that they'll be next if they don't cut it out.
5
posted on
05/14/2003 9:24:01 AM PDT
by
68skylark
To: Khepera
Where did you get the idea that New York doesn't allow guns?
6
posted on
05/14/2003 9:25:05 AM PDT
by
CaptRon
To: 68skylark
I hope this will be a message to other spammers Unfortunately the message will just be to use offshore servers.
7
posted on
05/14/2003 9:28:04 AM PDT
by
Alouette
(Why is it called "International Law" if it only applies to Israel and the United States?)
To: mikenola
Did his spams pay off? Does spamming produce results? Did he make a lot of money from responses to his spams? Is this known?
8
posted on
05/14/2003 9:29:51 AM PDT
by
tallhappy
Comment #9 Removed by Moderator
To: Alouette
Doesn't really matter where the servers are, as long as the spammer's sorry butt is in a US jurisdiction with anti-spam laws.
I love it!
10
posted on
05/14/2003 9:31:01 AM PDT
by
mikenola
To: Khepera
i live in Buffalo, and NY allows guns. what the problem is, is what you have to go through to get a permit. i am currently applying, and not only do you have to take 3 hour NRA safety course first, but you then have to fill out the application, complete with four character references (including their signatures and SS#), who have to live in your municipality, and are not related to you in any way. You must also state, in detail, why you want to own a pistol. After that, you send in the application, wait about 6 months, and then have two policemen come to your house to interview you. After that, THEN they decide whether you can own a gun.
No wonder so many people buy them illegally. Can you blame them?
To: CaptRon
I keep hearing they have some insane gun laws. maybe its just NYC.
12
posted on
05/14/2003 9:33:49 AM PDT
by
Khepera
(Do not remove by penalty of law!)
To: mikenola
Now if they can just catch the Texas Runaway Rats. :)
13
posted on
05/14/2003 9:48:14 AM PDT
by
anymouse
To: mikenola
I received four e-mails today all of them porn. I block the domain when I receive porn but it does no good. It is like trying cutting off the head of the hydra. Chop off one and ten more spring up in its place.
To: mikenola
He may regret sending all of those "Enlarge your penis" spams once he's behind bars!
15
posted on
05/14/2003 9:51:16 AM PDT
by
Redcloak
(All work and no FReep makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no FReep make s Jack a dul boy. Allwork an)
To: mikenola
... the death penalty for spammers.
16
posted on
05/14/2003 9:53:32 AM PDT
by
Theo
To: redheadtoo
Those people are no more than cyber 'prank phone callers'.
I do hope they flog the guilty party on public television.
These scum does not deserve to be granted a business license again, ever!, for whatever reason and in whatever state.
I read a story about a very elderly grandmother, bless her heart, who was so elated at getting on the internet after taking a senior citizen's PC course...but then she was shocked and returned her PC after she got those spam e mails, some of them quite graphic. This filth is coming straight into the homes of middle America from brown-paper bag skid row! Some of them brazenly and disgustingly say in the E Mail Subject Line things like: "Pics of Young Virgins _________ Daddy and Farm Animals" (sic). Can you imagine your grandmother having to see this evil? The spammers would incorrigibly take another hit off the bong or swig of the vodka and laugh loudly if they knew they had upset someone sensitive or elderly or spiritual, what with their garbage.
These spamming people are the lowest scum and should be locked away for months. Virginia state is finally going to do something about it I hear.
17
posted on
05/14/2003 9:57:13 AM PDT
by
AmericanInTokyo
(Kim Jong Il had ANOTHER bad underwear day . He found "decapitate" in his English-Korean dictionary.)
To: CaptRon
Ok. Tell me how I get a pistol permit in NYC without being politically connected or on the police force. Or tell me how to get an unrestricted carry permit in Erie or Onondaga county.
Getting my permit in Erie county, and then living in Onondaga county for 14 years taught me one thing about pistol permits in NY: Suck up to the local judge or forget it. They hold the power over your permit. They can deny issuing you one or revoke your current permit at a whim.
Tack on the other bullshit thanks to George "Mario Cuomo" Pataki and the NYC syncophants in the NY Legislature and NY is one of the most anti-firearm states in the US with the exception of those states that have outright bans.
18
posted on
05/14/2003 10:20:57 AM PDT
by
tphil913
To: tphil913
Or tell me how to get an unrestricted carry permit in Erie or Onondaga county. I know a guy who got a carry permit in Onondaga county - of course, he was in a line of work where personal security was a definite issue. Maybe you should get a more dangerous job ;)
19
posted on
05/14/2003 10:26:09 AM PDT
by
general_re
(No problem is so big that you can't run away from it.)
To: tphil913
That's not the same as saying "they don't allow guns". I agree, they do make it difficult, and like any other license you are at the whim of a judge.
20
posted on
05/14/2003 11:01:15 AM PDT
by
CaptRon
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