14 DAY TRIAL // Darrel Uselton, 40, and his uncle, Jack Usleton, 69, from Texas were both arrested after they were suspected for email spam campaigns meant to influence the stock market and allow them to earn money with ease. Security company Sophos said that the attackers received no less than $4.6 million from the spam campaign that was discovered when a Securities and Exchange Commission member received an unwanted email. The Texas Attorney General Office accused the two Texans of criminal activity and of money laundering.
"Unfortunately for the SEC, pump-and-dump spam campaigns don't seem likely to go away any time soon," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos. "The use of compromised networks of computers to spread these illegal spam messages can result in quick fortunes for the scammers, and can have serious detrimental effects on the stock involved. But, it seems that these criminals were in such a rush to make their millions that they forget to pay any attention to which email addresses were being spammed and in the end, this looks likely to be their downfall."
It's quite difficult to detect all the spam campaigns running at this time. Numerous attackers are attracted by this illegal activity because they can earn money with ease while the advertising process of certain products is done with minimum costs.
In the past, it was proved that spamming can be very dangerous and sometimes it can even affect our lives. Take for example the case of an American woman who bought pills advertised in the unsolicited email messages and died from an intoxication with illegal chemical substances.
However, the authorities from all around the world started a powerful offensive against the spammers, arresting and sending to prison numerous persons found guilty for unsolicited messages sent to millions of inboxes from every corner of the world.