A Florida man known as the “Timeshare Spammer” has pleaded guilty to one count of violating federal anti-spam laws.
Peter Moshou, 37 of Auburndale, Florida. could face up to three years in prison for allegedly sending more than 16 million unsolicited emails over the last two years seeking personal information by offering brokerage services for people interested in selling timeshares.
The charge was brought by the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia after Atlanta-based ISP Earthlink worked with federal agencies to provide evidence against Moshou. He was named as a defendant in a civil lawsuit in January. The lawsuit also charged him with racketeering and Computer Fraud and Abuse Act violations.
In the lawsuit the company said the unsolicited emails had falsified the "from" field in email addresses (spoofing), used deceptive subject lines, failed to identify the sender and failed to provide an electronic unsubscribe option.
Larry Slovensky, EarthLink's assistant general counsel said the conviction of Moshou "shows that legal action against spammers continues to be an effective weapon in our arsenal to fight illegal internet activity."
"We applaud the U.S. Attorney for successfully prosecuting the case against Moshou, and we're pleased that EarthLink's evidence against him, including our evidence of his Can-Spam violations, has proven useful in slamming the door on this spammer," said Slovensky.
In April, SC Magazine reported that Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist filed suit against two men accused of sending thousands of spam emails that linked to more than 75 web sites dealing in fraudulent business.