Manhattan Assistant U.S. Attorney Janice Fedarcyk commented on what was known as Operation Ghost Click by saying, “Working primarily from Estonia and Russia, the defendants effectively hijacked four million computers in a hundred countries – including half a million computers in the United States. Those half-million U.S. computers include those used by individuals, as well as computers housed in businesses and government entities such as NASA.”

A report issued by the FBI included further details, such as, “The thieves were able to manipulate internet advertising to generate at least $14 million in illicit fees. In some cases, the malware had the additional effect of preventing users’ anti-virus software and operating systems from updating, thereby exposing infected machines to even more malicious software.”

The men arrested, according to an FBI press release, are Vladimir Tsastsin, 31, Timur Gerassimenko, 31, Dmitri Jegorov, 33, Valeri Aleksejev, 31, Konstantin Poltev, 28, and Anton Ivanov, 26. A seventh defendant, Russian national Andrey Taame, 31, is still at large. The U.S. Attorney’s Office will seek to have all of the defendants extradited to the United States for prosecution.

In 2008, according to the Internet Crime Report, 275,284 complaints were filed, a 33 percent increase from the year before. The complaints were primarily related to fraudulent and non-fraudulent issues on the Internet, which included auction fraud, non-delivery, and credit/debit card fraud as well as non-fraudulent complaints such as computer intrusions, spam/unsolicited e-mail, and child pornography.

The total dollar loss, also up from the previous year, from fraud was $264.6 million with a median dollar loss of $931.00 per complaint.

“This report illustrates that sophisticated computer fraud schemes continue to flourish as financial data migrates to the Internet. It also underscores the need for continued vigilance on the part of law enforcement, businesses, and the home computer user to be aware of these schemes and employ sound security procedures,” FBI Cyber Division Assistant Director Shawn Henry said.

Some of the details:

- Non-delivered merchandise and/or payment was, by far, the most reported offense, comprising 32.9% of referred complaints.
- Internet auction fraud accounted for 25.5% of referred complaints.
- Credit/debit card fraud made up 9.0% of referred complaints.
- Confidence fraud, computer fraud, check fraud, and Nigerian letter fraud round out the top seven categories of complaints referred to law enforcement during the year.

Among perpetrators:

- 77.4% were male and half resided in one of the following states: California, New York, Florida, Texas, District of Columbia, and
Washington.
- The majority of reported perpetrators, 66 percent, were from the United States.

Of those filing the complaints:

- Males lost more money than females (ratio of $1.69 dollars lost per male to every $1.00 dollar lost per
female). This may be a function of both online purchasing differences by gender and the type of fraudulent schemes
by which the individuals were victimized.

What platform fraud used:

- E-mail (74.0%) and webpages (28.9%) were the two primary mechanisms by which the fraudulent contact
took place.

The companies said they stopped taking the ads years ago. The settlement was announced by Catherine L. Hanaway, the United States attorney for eastern Missouri, who said the investigation, conducted by her office, the Internal Revenue Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, dated to 2000. Negotiations have been going on for 12 to 18 months, she said.

Microsoft’s $21 million portion of the settlement includes a $4.5 million forfeiture, $7.5 million to be paid to the International Center for Missing and Exploited Children and $9 million in public service ads over a three-year period, starting next year.

The public service campaign will aim the message that online gambling is illegal at those of college age and younger.

“We’re hopeful that our educational campaign will stop young people from gambling before they start,” the company said. Yahoo’s $7.5 million share of the settlement includes a $3 million forfeiture and $4.5 million in public service ads over three years.

Google will pay $3 million. A spokesman, Jon Murchinson, said the ads were in sponsored links at Google.com and other Web sites that belong to its ad network. “While we did not admit any wrongdoing, the Department of Justice has advised that online gambling is illegal in the United States, and ads to promote it are improper,” he said.

Compliments of the Associated Press

A joint investigation by the FBI, FTC, and Washington Attorney General’s Office, The U.S. Inspection Service, and the Dept. Of Criminal Investigation of the IRS brought Soloway before a Seattle Grand Jury according to Spamhaus.

Through his company Newport Internet Marketing Corp., Soloway is accused of marketing “legitimate” ‘opt-in’ e-mail and then failing to provide refunds or support. He is also being accused of violating both CAN-SPAM and the Computer Abuse and Fraud Act of 1984 by sending spam messages on hijacked computers.

Spamhaus first listed Soloway on its Block List in 2001 and its Register of Known Spam Operations in the “worst of the worst” criminal spammers category in 2003.

“Soloway’s arrest shows that fighting spam involves technology, consumer education and underscores the importance of legislation and law enforcement,” said David Daniels, vice president and research director for JupiterResearch. “However the impact on advertisers and consumers is that e-mail will continue to flood inboxes, and while this is symbolic and a necessary part of the campaign against spam, it doesn’t mean that legitimate advertisers will be able to relax their efforts to get the consumer’s attention.”

Soloway is no stranger to the criminal court system. Microsoft won $7 million in a civil suit against him in 2005 andthe owner of an Oklahoma-based ISP, Robert Braver won a $10 million suit. Soloway has yet to pay either of these.

While this current arrest is significant in the fight against spam, many critics and analysts doubt that this will ultimately curb the appetite of the spamming community.

Soloway pleaded not guilty to all charges. He is considered a flight risk and remains in federal custody.