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One of the Internets biggest spam gangs has been indicted by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the New Zealand government in an action anticipated to have far reaching implications for spammers around the world. Internet anti spam authority Spamhaus reports,
“The #1 worst spam gang on the Internet for much of 2007 and 2008, and active since at least 2005, has been indicted by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in conjunction with simultaneous charges in New Zealand and possibly Australia & India”
In a preliminary action on Tuesday, the FTC succeeded in convincing a US district court to freeze the assets of the group, known collectively within the anti spam industry as HerbalKing, and order them to shut down operations immediately. It is reported that the group had sent billions of spam email messages over the past 2 years on subjects ranging from replica jewelry, to fraudulent slimming pills and penile enlargement products, just to name a few. In ordering that HerbalKing cease their operations immediately the court may have succeeded in immediately and significantly reducing the levels of spam circulating on the Internet.
This is a huge victory for the anti spam effort and for the Internet community at large. However, it is feared that HerbalKing may have invested its assets in offshore bank accounts, thus effectively cancelling out any effect of a freeze on their assets in the USA.
As this is an early phase in the civil action, penalties and/or fines will not be handed down until much further in the case but, at Remote Anti Spam, we’re hoping that the US court in Illinois takes this opportunity to make a serious statement and show a committed intent to bringing down spam rings wherever they operate.
