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Is Facebook's $711M Spam Award Just Monopoly Money? October 30, 2009 
Social networking site Facebook has been awarded US$711 million in damages from prolific spammer and social network scammer Sanford Wallace for bombarding its users with spam, Facebook attorney Sam O'Rourke reported in a blog post. Judge Jeremy Fogel of the U.S. District Court in Northern California also banned Wallace from accessing Facebook.
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Sidekick Snafu: The Data Saved and the Damage Done October 16, 2009 
T-Mobile's Sidekick users had a pretty rough time this week thanks to a mistake that first looked enormous but eventually was pretty much fixed, though with no small amount of worry and strife in between. An unfortunate series of events caused a major inconvenience for users of the smartphone.
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Twitter Sputters Over Spammers and Spitters October 14, 2009 
From bulk mail to email to social media: The next chapter in the checkered history of spamming is now being written via status updates and tweets. However, Twitter is trying to ensure that the chapter is a short one following the company's introduction Tuesday of a new "report as spam" button on user profiles.
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Feds Nab Dozens in Bank Phishing Scheme October 08, 2009 
Authorities said Wednesday they have arrested 33 people in breaking up a crime ring in the U.S. and Egypt in which an elaborate "phishing" scam bilked bank customers out of at least $1 million. Federal authorities said a total of 53 people were named in an indictment, while authorities in Egypt have charged 47 others in connection with the scheme.
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A Last Call for Snarkers Anonymous? August 21, 2009 
The old saying used to be, "If you can't say anything nice, then don't say anything at all." Then the Internet came along, and the saying changed to, "If you can't say anything nice, then invent a fake user name and go to town." The Web has allowed us to get away with saying some pretty awful things to each other without having to say them to each others' faces -- or even put our own names on them.
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Critics Smell Spam in White House Healthcare Email Effort August 17, 2009 
It is surprising -- albeit perhaps inevitable -- that the Obama Administration, which so ably navigated the Internet and Web 2.0 technologies during its presidential campaign, has stumbled using those same tools now that it is in office. The White House has received a large number of complaints from people who say that they have received unsolicited emails about the ongoing debate over healthcare reform.
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Study: Your Inbox Isn't the Only Thing Spammers Pollute April 16, 2009 
We know spammers are often the crooks behind online fraud, ID theft, data breaches and other acts of cybercrime. Now, however, we've learn that they're guilty of jacking up the planet's CO2 emission count as well. The average spam message generates 0.3 grams of CO2, according to a study conducted by consultant firm ICF International for security vendor McAfee, which has a vested interest in anti-spam products.
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LinkedIn Reshuffles Executive Deck December 18, 2008 
Business networking company LinkedIn has undergone a changing of the guard. CEO Dan Nye is out and has been replaced by LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman. Former Yahoo executive Jeff Weiner has joined the company as interim president and will oversee day-to-day operations.
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Suckers for Spam: When Will They Ever Learn? December 03, 2008 
The old adage about a sucker being born every minute is no less true among respondents to spam. Dishonest people have always been trying to make a fast buck by duping others into confidence scams, and the Web has give those people an easy way to communicate with more potential marks. However, modern-day scam artists may be capable of making a faster buck from a lot fewer suckers.
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Facebook Wins Massive CAN-SPAM Award, Vows to Collect November 25, 2008 
Social networking site Facebook has won an $873 million judgment against Montréal-based spammer Adam Guerbuez. Guerbuez "was phishing Facebook accounts and tricking people into giving them their personal information," said Facebook spokesperson Barry Schnitt. "He then would send their friends e-mails for phony pharmaceuticals and sleazy sexual products."
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Botnet Hunters Bypass Cops to Bring Down Spam Host November 13, 2008 
If you notice less spam in your e-mail inbox today, you can thank a coalition of cybersecurity researchers who have made it their mission to sew up spam-based "botnets" on the Web. Earlier this week, HostExploit.com gave a Washington Post reporter information about a hosting company, McColo, that was allegedly providing command-and-control capabilities for a spam botnet.
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FTC Busts Spam Gang October 15, 2008
The Federal Trade Commission has essentially shut down the largest spam operation in the world, freezing the assets of two of its accused ringleaders. Lance Atkinson, a New Zealand citizen living in Australia, and Jody Smith of Texas, deceptively marketed a variety of products through spam messages, including a male-enhancement pill, prescription drugs, and a weight-loss pill.
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Microsoft Lawsuit Aims to Spook Scareware Scammers September 30, 2008 
Microsoft has teamed with Washington State Attorney General Rob McKenna to try and stamp out so-called scareware. The AG and Microsoft have filed lawsuits against James Reed McCreary IV of The Woodlands, Texas. The suit names him as the marketer of an application called "Registry Cleaner XP."
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Spammers Bait Hooks With Fake iPhone Game September 19, 2008 
Security firm Sophos issued a warning Thursday about e-mails purportedly offering free iPhone games. The missives profess to feature a free game for the smartphone, but the only thing those who download the attachment receive is malware designed to infect PCs running Windows.
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Virginia SC Scuttles Spam Law September 12, 2008
Jeremy Jaynes -- said to be one of the world's most prolific spammers -- had his nine-year jail sentence vacated after the Virginia state Supreme Court ruled that the law under which he was prosecuted violated the First Amendment. It did not adequately differentiate between commercial and noncommercial speech, the Court found.
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The Spam World's Election Season Blast July 25, 2008 
With the political election season ramping up, spammers are again using news headlines about the candidates to saturate in-boxes. Researchers have uncovered two new spam clusters with subject lines relating to Barack Obama. At certain points, one of these spam runs accounted for up to 18 percent of all spam, according to MessageLabs.
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