AOHelL users... here's something interesting.

[grinner]

Pair Nailed In AOL Spam Scheme
Arrested in theft of firm's 92 million subscriber list

JUNE 23--An AOL software engineer was arrested today for stealing the company's subscriber list--totaling 92 million screen names--and selling it to a 21-year-old Las Vegas spammer. According to the below federal criminal complaint, Jason Smathers, 24, last year illegally accessed the highly confidential AOL list by using another employee's identification codes. Smathers, who worked in AOL's Dulles, Virginia office, then allegedly sold the list to Sean Dunaway, who used the AOL database to promote his own online gambling business and who also sold the list for $52,000 to fellow spammers, one of whom used the names "for purposes of marketing herbal penile enlargement pills," according to the complaint. Prosecutors also contend that Smathers subsequently sold Hathaway an updated AOL customer list--this one with approximately 18 million names--for $100,000. Both men have been charged with conspiracy, which carries a maximum prison sentence of five years. (13 pages) Thirteen more pages of info at The Smoking Gun (http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0623042aol1.html)

[Kurt_eh]

Warming up volcal chords:

Lovely Spaaam! Wonderful Spaaam!
Lovely Spaaam! Wonderful Spam.

Spa-a-a-a-a-a-a-am.
Spa-a-a-a-a-a-a-am.
Spa-a-a-a-a-a-a-am.
Spa-a-a-a-a-a-a-am.

Lovely Spaaam! (Lovely Spam!)
Lovely Spaaam! (Lovely Spam!)
Lovely Spaaam!

Spaaam, Spaaam, Spaaam, Spaaaaaam!

link to .au file of the song (hhttp://bau2.uibk.ac.at/sg/python/Sounds/spam_song.au) (if it doesn't stream, right-click and save)

source: http://bau2.uibk.ac.at/sg/python/Sounds.html

[shipsister]

Hate spam; love the song!! :D

Thanks for both links!

[grinner]

US Charges AOL Worker Sold Customer List for Spam
Email this story




Jun 23, 7:08 PM (ET)

By Andy Sullivan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. investigators said on Wednesday they had arrested an America Online employee and a Las Vegas marketer for stealing the Internet provider's customer list and selling it to a purveyor of "spam" e-mail.

AOL members were flooded with millions of unwanted messages because of the scheme, according to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. district court in New York.

Jason Smathers of Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, was charged with stealing a list of 92 million AOL customer screen names and selling them to Internet marketer Sean Dunaway of Las Vegas.

Dunaway, who has also been arrested, used the list to promote his online gambling operation and sold it to other spammers, U.S. attorney David Kelley said in a statement.

Both men face up to five years in prison and a fine of $250,000 under a national anti-spam law. Neither could be immediately reached for comment.

Working as an engineer in AOL's Dulles, Virginia, headquarters, Smathers, 24, was able to access screen names, zip codes and credit-card types, though not credit-card numbers, of the company's 30 million customers, the complaint said.

A search of Smathers' laptop computer showed he had discussed ways to spam AOL members in April 2003, investigators said.

Dunaway, 21, sold the list to other marketers for $52,000 in May or June 2003, and sold an updated version in March 2004 for $32,000, the complaint said.

Dunaway paid Smathers $100,000 for the updated list, the complaint said. The complaint did not say how much Dunaway paid for the original list.

AOL said it discovered the activity during a spam investigation earlier this year. Smathers has been fired, the company said.

"We deeply regret what has taken place and are thoroughly reviewing and strengthening our internal procedures as a result of this investigation and arrest," the company said in a statement.

Spam now accounts for up to 83 percent of all e-mail, frustrating consumers and costing businesses billions in lost productivity and wasted bandwidth.

U.S. authorities arrested four Michigan residents in April and shut down their marketing operation, charging them with violating a national anti-spam law that took effect in January.

AOL and other Internet providers have also invoked the law in civil lawsuits against hundreds of suspected spammers. link (http://news.myway.com/top/article/id/411039|top|06-23-2004::19:25|reuters.html)

[AgentSun]

heh...heh...i live in the same area as the AOHell headquarters. i might drive over there sometime and see if there are any cameras there. local tv must be going nuts.

[TheBladeRoden]

If anyone would like to offer me a gmail account now would be a good time

[grinner]

If anyone would like to offer me a gmail account now would be a good time
why, so you can get a good email name?

[fermicat]

gmail has provoked some privacy concerns. Buyer beware (even though it is free). Also beware of what you send to a gmail account, because it will stay on a server somewhere forever.


http://www.gmail-is-too-creepy.com/

http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/8337390.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

http://www.securityfocus.com/columnists/248


And for balance, here is stuff about Google's response to these issues:

http://gmail.google.com/gmail/help/more.html

http://www.clickz.com/news/article.php/3335481