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'Spam King' Sanford Wallace Sentenced To 2.5 Years In Prison For Facebook Phishing Scam (bbc.com)
Xochil writes: Sanford Wallace gets a two-year prison term and $310K fine on charges of fraud and criminal contempt for sending over 27 million spam messages to Facebook users. Sanford Wallace has made a name for himself over the course of the last several years. In 1998, the "Spam King" announced he would put an end to spamming on his part, instead resorting to a new scheme in which ISPs would be paid to receive the mail. Flash forward to 2004, the Associated Press reported that a judge issued a temporary restraining order against Wallace for alleged spyware distribution. Last August, Wallace admitted to compromising around 500,000 Facebook accounts, using them to send over 27 million spam messages through Facebook's servers, between November 2008 and March 2009. While he could have been sentenced to as many as 16 years in prison, he was only sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison and five years of supervised release. In addition, Wallace was ordered to pay about one cent for every message sent or about 60 cents per account compromised, totaling $310,628.55 in restitution. The phishing scam consisted of Wallace automating the process of signing into a Facebook user's account, retrieving a list of their friends and sending them each a message that encouraged them to log into a website. The website would trick users into divulging their Facebook username and password before directing them to an affiliate website that would pay him for the traffic.
You know, any high school kid that demonstrates it knows more about computers than the average CIO and hacks a server that was secured as well as a barndoor with a hay stack in front of it gets some verdict where he can't get near a computer any time soon.
Why is that waste of oxygen still allowed near anything using electricity?
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Well I'm going to call it a good day. I've been waiting 15 years to hear this news.
I read at +2. If your post doesn't reach that level I will not see or respond to it.
Let's hope it involves daily beat-downs and extended stays in the prison infirmary.
Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
Sounds like a great nickname for him!
Do it enough and we can get it Google bombed!
Sanford "Spamford" Wallace
You realize that this kind of legislation does not apply to our legislators?
When the right to carry is enforced in State Houses and Congress we may see some progress, but of course they have again exempted themselves.
Prove anything by multiplying Huge Number times Tiny Number
Who pooped in your breakfast cereals?
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Actually, when it's out on parole, restricted computer access is part of the conditions.
seriously. How is that not half a million CFAA violations?
And how, exactly, is restricted computer access going to prevent him from going right back to his old tricks? Not only has he proven time and time again that he has no intention of stopping, he doesn't even need to be in the same room as a computer because all he's doing is paying other people to send out spam for him. No, the only thing that might work is sending some of his employees to prison because they're just as guilty as he is.
Good, inexpensive web hosting
If you want to get rid of most telemarketing, put all of your phone numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry. Then, make a habit of reporting violations so that the feds have the evidence they need to enforce the law. This won't stop all of it, but it will keep away the more honest companies and give you a way to fight back against scammers.
Good, inexpensive web hosting
You know, any high school kid that demonstrates it knows more about computers than the average CIO and hacks a server that was secured as well as a barndoor with a hay stack in front of it gets some verdict where he can't get near a computer any time soon.
Why is that waste of oxygen still allowed near anything using electricity?
What I don't understand is once you've discovered your "business model" doesn't work you don't take what you've learned and try to sell your skills in a way that does't get you in trouble? even if your "skills" aren't viewed as particularly good by people who are techies you still could sell your knowledge about spam and how to fight it to corporations. He was one of the early spammers who who had notoriety when other's didn't and could have capitalized on that; after all along with the "Green Card Lottery" spammers was one of the early persons to capitalize on spam's potential. Others made the leap to being a consultant after being hammered by the law; follow Frank Abagnale's need and sell the ability to stop others from doing what you do. Maybe because it's hard for some people to admit they're wrong and get their kicks from beating the system?
It's not that different form going from being in government to being a lobbyist and helping people negotiate working with government to get what they want, or working in a field and then using the knowledge you gain to help others compete in the same field. Ethics side, that may not be viewed as a good way to make money but it beats prison, especially since you have your former adversaries now on your side.
I'm a consultant - I convert gibberish into cash-flow.
Sanford Wallace?
Back in the day one of Spamford's companies was driving me insane at home. A bit of detective work turned up a corporate contact number which actually turned out to be legit.
I was working IT for a telemarketing company at the time, and was also responsible for scheduling the outbound calls (and could monitor them as well). I temporarily modified the outbound calling unit so that number got a call every three seconds or so. At first they were indifferent, then they got angry, then finally they began PLEADING for the calls to stop because it was interfering with their business.
Absolutely hilarious. I laughed so hard that I hurt for a week. :)
In theory, if you contact the bulk mail senders, they have to take you off their lists as well, according to a postman I once asked.
I had a sucky sig.
Seems low for large scale hacking & organized crime.
Lord Shojo says it best: "As long as the people at the table see a fellow player across from them, they'll tolerate you. A crooked player is a pain in the ass, but someone who refuses to play at all makes them start questioning their own lives and people HATE to think. They'd rather lose to a cheater than dwell too long on why they're playing in the first place."
You and me, we aren't players because we have no cards. Drug lords aren't players because they break the rules openly and flaunt it. Wallace, on the other hand, is a sleazy businessman, so the courts give him the "bad dog!" treatment. The system takes care of its own, and screw everyone else.
Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.
Except that most of the time, the caller ID you see is fraudulent. I am going to try and report them more often, but on the 1st of the month when I get my phone bill, which will give me the ANI, except for some IP based calls. What does need to happen is that the FTC needs to stop settling with them for fines that let them still make a profit and start going after personal assets. Employees who violate the law by not telling you information they are legally required to should also be prosecuted. They are supposed to tell you the mailing address of the company, if asked. They know that their employer is violating the DNC list, but continue to aid and abet anyway. There is a youtube video of one who admitted that Card Services is a scam, but she needed the job.
Sorry for the rant, but I just got another home security telemarketer here at my office.
When I say...
LART that pinhead.
I like you, Stuart. You're not like everyone else, here, at Slashdot.
Spamford is one of those career criminals who has proven, over and over and over again, that he will never "go straight", that the moment he is released, he will go back to committing criminal acts. At some point, you have to say "That does it, we've given you a whole lot of chances which you treated with pure sociopathic contempt. Now you go in a cell, and you never get out. Never."