14 DAY TRIAL // The famous spammer Alan Ralsky and 10 other persons have been finally indicted by a federal jury, in Detroit, that accused the 11-person group for spamming. Besides Alan Ralsky, his son and several Californian spammers, people from Russia, Canada, and Arizona were also involved into the case, a statement published on the Department of Justice reads. A three-year investigation proved that the spammer has been using a huge number of infected computers, all of them parts of large botnets, for a long period of time, bundled with fake email headers and fake domain names, which obviously supported their phishing schemes.
"Today's charges seek to knock out one of the largest illegal spamming and fraud operations in the country, an international scheme to make money by manipulating stock prices through illegal spam e-mail promotions. I commend the excellent investigative work of the FBI, Postal Inspection Service, and the IRS-Criminal Investigation Division. I also wish to recognize the significant support and expertise provided by the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section of the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice", U.S. Attorney, Stephen J. Murphy, said.
According to the DoJ statement, the spammers managed to earn no less than $3 million in the summer of 2005, all the money coming from their illegal activities based on spam.
"The flood of illegal spam continues to wreak havoc on the online marketplace and has become a global criminal enterprise. It clogs consumers' email boxes with scams and unwanted messages and imposes significant costs on our society. This indictment reflects the commitment of the Department of Justice to prosecuting these spamming organizations wherever they may operate. I would like to thank the many prosecutors and agents for their extraordinary efforts leading up to the indictment", Assistant Attorney General, Alice S. Fisher, of the Criminal Division, said according to the same statement published on the DoJ website.