Spyware Scammer fined $84,000

[Triumph]

I have seen some of those pop-ups in the past. It is amazing the lengths people will go to to scam others.

A MAN who scammed punters with bogus spyware warnings has been fined $84,000.

Zhijian Chen admitted flogging the bogus anti-spyware program Spyware Cleaner. Chen used the Windows "Net send" command to put pop-ups on users' machines that mimicked official warnings.

Users clicked on the embedded link and ended up at Secure Computer's site where they were offered a free "scan". The scan detected spyware, even when there was none, and customers were advised to buy Spyware Cleaner.

The court heard how Chen made thousands of dollars out of the scam because he collected a 75 percent commission on the software, according to Information Week.

Chen now holds the dubious honour of being the first person to be caught and fined under Washington state's 2005 Computer Spyware Act.

http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=31855

[Jason425]

NICE! Those darn net sends!

[ninikins]

Haha! Man, that's scary. Awesome that someone finally got caught and fined for such a thing. Thanks for the link.

[Slashmire]

Well if they can make an example out of him, then so much the better. $84,000 is...scary. Spywares have to be dealt with

[Jason425]

They make a ton of money being nasty (as do the people that fix the computers that spyware messes up), so we need to take that money back!

[Slashmire]

Yeah I read the some times ago, that in most cases of spam, profits are made if around 1% of all the spam is clicked on.

Obviously this makes sense....but then again, some bigger spam "corporation" are not made out by a single man army...

[felice206]

I hope they continue, it's getting out of hand, although I am sure that there will be loopholes, doubt spam/spyware is going anywhere for a good long time.

[Triumph]

Originally Posted by Slashmire

Yeah I read the some times ago, that in most cases of spam, profits are made if around 1% of all the spam is clicked on.

Obviously this makes sense....but then again, some bigger spam "corporation" are not made out by a single man army...

That is the problem with internet spam, the cost associated with sending it out is almost negligible. Unlike other ways you can send spam, ie via regular mail, it costs you postage to send each letter, for example.

So you only need to make a very small percentage convert, and it is a worthwhile mechanism. I really wish we could get rid of it, because it is absurd to get so much horrible e-mail.