'Spam King' Pleads Guilty to Fraud
A West Bloomfield, Mich., man who a federal prosecutor described as “the world’s most notorious illegal spammer” has pleaded guilty to fraud and money laundering.
Alan M. Ralsky, 64, is known as the “Spam King” for the years he acted as an e-mailer for hire, the Detroit News reports.
Ralsky’s plea could cost him $1 million and leave him imprisoned for seven years. But according to the Detroit News, Ralsky has agreed to assist the government with future investigations in return for a lighter sentence.
Ralsky’s e-mail activity has included unsolicited promotions for mortgages and male enhancement pills.
But what tripped him up was a successful scheme that boosted the value of “pink sheet” Chinese penny stocks, the Detroit New reports. After he sent millions of messages and the prices on the stocks rose, Ralsky and his co-defendants sold at a profit. The government maintains Ralsky made $3 million from illegal spamming in one summer in 2005.
Law enforcement was able to follow the money to help identify Ralsky and his accomplices.
The Washington Post’s Security Fix blog reports that Ralsky and his accomplices employed botnets, using tens of thousands of hijacked PCs to relay junk messages.
Co-defendants who also pleaded Monday were Ralsky’s son-in-law, Scott K. Bradley, 48, of West Bloomfield; and co-conspirators James E. Fite, 36, of Culver City, Calif.; John S. Bown, 45, of Fresno, Calif.; and William C. Neil, 46, also of Fresno.
