Two Men Convicted of Sending Millions of Pornographic Spam Messages

According to a press release from the United States Justice Department, two men were convicted Monday on charges of fraud, money laundering, conspiracy, and transportation of obscene materials. The men were convicted of these charges due to the activities of their business which specialized in spamming email users with messages that contained material that was sexually explicit.

James A. Schaffer and Jeremy Kilbridge, were the first two people to be convicted of charges under 2003 CAN-SPAM act. The act was specifically designed to target people who send bulk pornographic spam. The two men faced two charges under the CAN-SPAM act in addition to their other charges.

The Justice Depart claims that Schaffer and Kilbridge's business was responsible for sending millions of spam emails that had "hard core" pornographic images embedded in them. The emails advertised and linked to pornography businesses; the businesses then paid the two men a commission for every click through. Schaffer and Kilbridge reportedly generated $2 million from their illegal activity.

Representatives from America On-line and the Federal Trade Commission testified that 660,000 complaints were made about the pornographic emails. Many of the emails reached children, despite the fact that their parents had utilized parental controls to attempt to block their children from being exposed to sexually explicit material.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation along with the High Tech Investigative Unit of the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice investigated the case, which proved difficult to solve. Schaffer and Kilbridge took many steps to conceal their identities. They reportedly falsified email addresses on the spam they sent, and created fictitious owners of domain names. The pair also set up a fraudulent business front in the Republic of Maritus, and had off-shore accounts in Maritus and the Isle of Man to launder the businesses profits.

Schaffer and Kilbridge were ultimately convicted on a total of eight counts under the four charges. They face a maximum sentence of 5 years for each obscenity count and CAN-SPAM offense and 20 years for money laundering. The maximum possible total sentence for the pair is 50 years and a fine of up to $500,000.

Assistant Attorney General Alice Fisher made these statements when announcing the men's convictions: "Through their international spamming operation, these defendants made millions of dollars by sending unwanted sexually explicit emails to hundreds of thousands of innocent people, including families and children, while simultaneously using sophisticated Internet technology to try to conceal their identity. This prosecution, the first of its kind under the CAN-SPAM Act, demonstrates the Department of Justice's commitment to protect American families from receiving unsolicited spam email."

Sources:
The United States Department of Justice