#1 spammer caught

Robert Alan Soloway, 27, the owner of Newport Internet Marketing Corp. of Seattle and responsible for millions of spam e-mails , is facing five counts of identity theft, mail fraud, wire fraud, fraud in connection with email, and money laundering. If convicted on all the charges, he could face up to 75 years in prison.

 IronPort Systems  reports that in the last few days the amount of spam has dropped 8%, which is equal to 6 billion messages.

The problem is that the numbers dropped from 80 billion to 74 billion!!

According to the indictment, between November 2003 and May 2007, Soloway operated Newport Internet Marketing, which offered a "broadcast e-mail" software product and services.

The government contends that these products and services constituted spam that was relayed using a network of proxy computers or botnets.

The government also said in the indictment that Soloway made a number of false and fraudulent claims about the products and services on his Web site, including a claim that the e-mail addresses used for the product and services were "opt-in" addresses. The Web site also promised a satisfaction guarantee with a full refund to customers who purchased the broadcast e-mail product. However, the indictment alleges that customers who later complained or asked for refunds were threatened with additional financial charges and referred to a collection agency.

The government also contends that Soloway spammed tens of millions of e-mail messages to advertise his Web site.

He constantly moved the Web site, which prosecutors said was hosted on at least 50 domains.

Prosecutors also said that in at least one instance Soloway used another person's credit card to pay for the domain name that hosted his Web site.

Soloway also is being accused of using the e-mail addresses and domain names of unsuspecting people to send out waves of spam, causing the victims' legitimate addresses to be blacklisted as spam sources. The government contends that Soloway refused to remove e-mail addresses from his distribution lists, leaving some victims with no choice but to close their e-mail accounts or cancel established domain names to stop the spamming. Prosecutors say he has been the subject of hundreds of complaints to the Federal Trade Commission, the Better Business Bureau, and the Washington State Attorney General's Office.

While some in the industry say fighting the spammers is a losing battle since many of them are outside of the United States and outside of the fed's reach, Alperovitch said it's a big deal for the government to arrest someone who has consistently appeared on Spamhaus' Top 10 spammers list. "If you look at the Top 10 list, several of them are from the U.S. and those who aren't frequently travel to the U.S. so you can nab them then. There's lots of ways to get these guys in orange jumpsuits. ... It's not so easy to send spam from jail."