Close
  • Latest News
  • Cybersecurity
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Mobile
  • Networking
  • Storage
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Menu
Search
  • Latest News
  • Cybersecurity
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Mobile
  • Networking
  • Storage
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Applications
    • Applications
    • Cybersecurity
    • PC Hardware

    Notorious Spammer Faces Federal Prison

    By
    Brian Prince
    -
    June 23, 2009
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      A Michiganman called “the world’s most notorious illegal spammer” by a federal prosecutor has pleaded guilty to fraud and money laundering charges.

      As part of his plea, Alan M. Ralsky, 64, of West Bloomfield, Mich., admitted to overseeing a spam operation that sought to manipulate stock prices for profit. Ralsky was one of five defendants in the case to plead guilty June 22 for their roles in the scheme, which used spam to lure people into trading weak stocks. Once the recipients traded in the stocks and their price shares increased, the ring would trade in the stocks and pocket the profits.

      The other defendants to plead guilty in the case June 22 include: Scott K. Bradley, 38, of West Bloomfield, Mich.; John S. Bown, 45, of Fresno, Calif.;William C. Neil, 46, of Fresno,and James E. Fite, 36, of Culver City, Calif. Three other defendants pleaded guilty previously.

      The ring functioned from January 2004 to September 2005. According to authorities, Ralsky served as the chief executive officer for the spam operation, while his son-in-law, Bradley, served as its chief financial officer and director of operations. Bown, who was chief executive officer of an Internet services company called GDC Layer One, served as the spam operation’s chief technology officer. Neil was one of his employees at GDC Layer One, and was accused of building and maintaining a network used to send the spam.

      Rounding out the team was Fite, a spammer-for-hire who contracted others to send spam e-mails as part of the conspiracy.

      Many of the spam e-mails promoted “pink sheet” stocks for U.S.companies owned and controlled by individuals in Hong Kongand China. The spam e-mails contained “materially false and misleading information” and were created and sent using software programs that made it difficult to trace them back to the conspirators, federal authorities said in a statement. According to the indictment, the conspirators used wire communications, the U.S.mail and common carriers to further their frauds. The conspirators also engaged in money laundering involving millions of dollars generated by their manipulative stock trading.

      “Alan Ralsky was at one time the world’s most notorious illegal spammer,” said U.S. Attorney Terrence Berg, in a statement. “Using the Internet to manipulate the stock market through spam e-mail campaigns is a serious crime, and this case serves notice that federal law enforcement has both the capability and the will to successfully investigate, prosecute and punish such cyber-crimes.”

      All five defendants, who were indicted in 2007, are scheduled to be sentenced in October. Cases against three other defendants are still pending.

      Avatar
      Brian Prince

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Android

      Samsung Galaxy XCover Pro: Durability for Tough...

      Chris Preimesberger - December 5, 2020 0
      Have you ever dropped your phone, winced and felt the pain as it hit the sidewalk? Either the screen splintered like a windshield being...
      Read more
      Cloud

      Why Data Security Will Face Even Harsher...

      Chris Preimesberger - December 1, 2020 0
      Who would know more about details of the hacking process than an actual former career hacker? And who wants to understand all they can...
      Read more
      Cybersecurity

      How Veritas Is Shining a Light Into...

      eWEEK EDITORS - September 25, 2020 0
      Protecting data has always been one of the most important tasks in all of IT, yet as more companies become data companies at the...
      Read more
      Big Data and Analytics

      How NVIDIA A100 Station Brings Data Center...

      Zeus Kerravala - November 18, 2020 0
      There’s little debate that graphics processor unit manufacturer NVIDIA is the de facto standard when it comes to providing silicon to power machine learning...
      Read more
      Apple

      Why iPhone 12 Pro Makes Sense for...

      Wayne Rash - November 26, 2020 0
      If you’ve been watching the Apple commercials for the past three weeks, you already know what the company thinks will happen if you buy...
      Read more
      eWeek


      Contact Us | About | Sitemap

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      Terms of Service | Privacy Notice | Advertise | California - Do Not Sell My Information

      © 2021 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×