Two more large-scale spammers have settled charges with the Federal Trade
Commission (FTC) that they sent commercial e-mails in violation of the CAN-SPAM Act.
According to the FTC, the Matthew Olson
and Jennifer LeRoy sent millions of unwanted and
unsolicited e-mail while concealing the true identity of the sender.
In November, the FTC brought a lawsuit against Olson and LeRoy, both of Washington State, as part of a wider campaign
targeting spammers who hijack users’ computers and turn them into spamming
machines.
The practice obscures the original source of the message so spammers can
avoid detection by law enforcement officials and elude spam filters used by
Internet service providers.
In addition, the spam sent by Olson and LeRoy contained false “From”
information, misleading subject lines and failed to provide for an opt-out
provision, all of which are violations of the CAN-SPAM Act.
As part of the settlement, Olson and LeRoy agreed to no further violations
of the law.
A $45,000 judgment against the two will be suspended due to
their inability to pay. However, the FTC noted, the judgment will be
reinstated if Olson and LeRoy have misrepresented their financial condition.
Among the products Olson and LeRoy pushed included mortgage plans
and a device for improving automobile gas mileage.