A 27-year-old notorious spammer, once sued by Microsoft, was arrested in Seattle, Washington, after a federal grand jury indicted him for mail fraud, wire fraud, e-mail fraud, aggravated identity theft and money laundering.

Robert Alan Soloway, advertised a mass e-mail service that sent messages to an opt-in list of addresses, but didn’t actually use such a permission-based list, the indictment said. He also sold software products that customers could use to send out mass e-mails. However, the product often didn’t work and if it did, it sent e-mails using forged headers. He also failed to offer promised support services, according to the court documents.

In addition, when customers complained, Soloway threatened additional fees and referral them to a collection agency.

He is accused of using networks of compromised computers to send out millions upon millions of junk e-mails since 2003. He continued his activities even after Microsoft won a $7 million civil judgment against him in 2005, and Robert Brauer, an operator of a small Internet service provider in western Oklahoma, won a $10 million judgment.

“He’s one of the top 10 spammers in the world,” said Tim Cranton, a Microsoft Corp. lawyer who is senior director of the company’s Worldwide Internet Safety Programs. “He’s a huge problem for our customers. This is a very good day.”

“Spam is a scourge of the Internet, and Robert Soloway is one of its most prolific practitioners,” said Jeffrey C. Sullivan, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Washington. “Our investigators dubbed him the ‘Spam King’ because he is responsible for millions of spam e-mails.”

If convicted, Soloway faces fines of over US$772,000, which is the amount he illegally obtained from his activities, as well as forfeiture of other money and property.

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Entry was posted on Wednesday, May 30th, 2007 at 11:55 pm under Technology.

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