The Daily Caller

The Daily Caller
Tech
 SIERRA MADRE, CA - MAY 29: Spam, the often-maligned classic canned lunch meat made by Hormel Foods, is seen on a grocery store shelf May 29, 2008 in Sierra Madre, California. With the rise in food prices, sales of Spam are increasing as consumers look for ways to cut their food bills. According to the US Agriculture Department, the price of food is rising at the fastest rate since 1990. Increasingly expensive staples include such items as white bread, up 13 percent over last year, butter, up nine percent, and bacon at seven percent. The increasing sales have translated to 14 percent higher profits for Hormel. Spam was created in 1937 and was popularized as a staple food for World War II Western allied forces. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)  

Facebook’s ‘Spam King’ indicted in federal court

4:08 PM 08/05/2011
Tina Nguyen

Sanford Wallace, self-dubbed the “Spam King,” surrendered yesterday to FBI agents in Las Vegas. Wallace, 43, faces multiple fraud charges for allegedly sending more than 27 million spam messages to Facebook users.

Between 2008 and 2009, Wallace allegedly broke into 500,000 Facebook accounts to harvest contacts, using this access to send password phishing emails to unsuspecting users.

Wallace is also charged with three counts of intentional damage to a computer and, tellingly, two counts of contempt. Facebook had filed a civil suit against Wallace in 2009, which resulted in Wallace being ordered not to access Facebook’s servers.

In a press release from the Northern California District Court, prosecutors claim that Wallace violated this order twice: first while on a Virgin Atlantic flight, and a second time in creating and maintaining a Facebook profile entitled “David Sinful-Saturdays Fredericks” in early 2011.

A prolific spammer whose notoriety began in 1998, Wallace made his first appearance in federal court today, and was released on a $100,000 bond. He was ordered to obey all civil orders, including not accessing MySpace or Facebook. If convicted, Wallace faces up to three years for each fraud charge, as well as an additional 10 years for each charge of intentional damage.

In a statement, Facebook’s lead security and investigations counsel Chris Sonderby “applauded the efforts of the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the FBI to bring spammers to justice. (RELATED: Homeland Security: Majority of hackers ‘little more than script kiddies’

“We will continue to pursue and support both civil and criminal consequences for spammers or others who attempt to harm Facebook or the people who use our service.”

Tags: