In late May of 2007, the individual reputed to be the “Spam King” was arrested on charges of mail fraud, identity fraud, fraud in connection with electronic email, and money laundering. Robert Alan Soloway has been considered one of the worst of the worst spammers on the Internet. This month, Soloway plead guilty to the charges of email fraud, felony mail fraud, and failure to file taxes as a bargain to have the other charges dropped. However, he still faces up to 26 years in prison and a collective fine up to $625,000.
The case of Soloway was decidedly more swift than that of Alan Ralsky, who had been dubbed the King of Spam by others. He and ten other accomplices were indicted on charges following a three-year investigation that began with a raid of his house in 2005. Ralsky and his cohorts spammed people with a “pump and dump” stock scam, and their many criminal offenses include many of the same that have been charged against Soloway, including email fraud.
It seems that legal enforcers have finally come around in catching spammers. In the past, spammers flouted the law to the extent of reveling in their success publicly. Back in 2005, Soloway reportedly boasted the following in a message forum: “I’ve been sued for hundreds of millions of dollars and have had my business running for over 10 years without every paying a dime regardless to the outcome of any lawsuits.” His spamming operation made him $300,000 in that very year.
Ralsky also gloated freely with the help of the press when he was interviewed by The Detroit News in 2002. In this instance, however, some spam-plagued readers got back at Ralsky by signing him up for advertising mailing lists, thus flooding his mailbox with that old-fashioned precursor to spam: junk mail. Without much apparent self-awareness, Ralsky complained to The Detroit Free Press about being “harassed.”
Things have changed in the past couple of years. There are online projects and sites now dedicated to stopping spam. Email servers are constantly refining their tools on filtering unsolicited mail. We are constantly proving to websites that we are human. Although the law is now cracking down on email spam, unscrupulous advertisers are discovering new media to annoy and scam the masses. Don’t be surprised to see solicitations in instant messaging windows or in pop-ups that claim that they know your computer is compromised and the only way to identify and fix the problem is to click on this link. Cue the eye-roll.
Here at Visible Shops, we believe in effective and responsible email marketing campaigns. We strive to uphold quality mailing lists and provide worthwhile content in our messages. Resist the temptation of quick returns with another advertising entity that uses spamming techniques. A truly potent email marketing plan will deliver long-term rewards such as customer loyalty and the spreading of your business’s (good!) reputation.
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