Facebook ‘Spam King’ allegedly broke into a half million user accounts
August 6, 2011 by admin
Filed under Latest Lingerie News
A Las Vegas man faces 11 federal criminal counts related to 27 million unsolicited spam messages authorities say he launched via Facebook servers. Sanford Wallace received “substantial revenue” for the scheme, which involved compromising the accounts of nearly 500,000 users of the popular social network, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Skip to next paragraph
Mr. Wallace turned himself into authorities Thursday. He pleaded not guilty and is free on a $100,000 unsecured bond. He faces more than 40 years in prison.
According to the indictment filed in San Jose, Calif., Wallace manipulated Facebook servers to send users bogus messages from unsuspecting friends, encouraging them to visit third party websites. Once users clicked on the links, their information was exposed and collected, including friend lists, which allowed the spam manipulation to spread widely.
MONITOR QUIZ: Weekly News Quiz for July 30-August 4, 2011
The operation took place between November 2008 and March 2009, prosecutors said.
This is not Wallace’s first clash with Facebook, the leading online social-network site, based in Palo Alto, Calif. The company successfully sued him in 2009 for compromising their servers. The judge issued a $711 million judgment against him and barred him from accessing Facebook. The current indictment says he violated that order.
Facebook lawyer Chris Sonderby released a statement Thursday saying the website “will continue to pursue and support both civil and criminal consequences for spammers and others” who attempt to harm its users.
The 11 counts leveled against Wallace include fraud, intentional damage to a protected computer, and criminal contempt for violating previous orders to stay off Facebook and MySpace.
Wallace’s history with online spam dates back to the mid-1990s, when he headed a company called Cyber Promotions, which developed unsolicited e-mail marketing techniques.
In 2006, the Federal Trade Commission issued a $4 million fine for infecting computers with spyware – software designed to infiltrate hard drives and servers with the intent to collect information without user knowledge.
Wallace was banned from the social-networking site MySpace in 2007 by a federal judge after the company sued him for creating more than 10,000 fake profiles engineered to redirect legitimate users to third-party websites. The following year the judge issued a default judgment of $230 million.
Although Wallace was nicknamed the “Spam King,” he is not the only one to hold that title. Last December, federal authorities arrested Oleg Nikolaenko, a Moscow man, for sending as many as 10 billion spam e-mails per day in what was described as a global spamming network. Mr. Nikolaenko is awaiting trial in Milwaukee. The criminal complaint says Nikolaenko advertised goods such as counterfeit Viagra or Rolex watches.
Efforts to combat spam may be shifting from the “spam kings” themselves to the financial institutions that support their transactions.
According to a study released in May by researchers at the Universities of California at Berkley and San Diego, 95 percent of all credit-card transactions for spam-related goods are handled by just three banks: one in Azerbaijan, one in Denmark, and one on the West Indies island of Nevis. They suggest that targeting banks that handle merchant accounts controlled by spamming operations may be a more effective away to deter their activities.
MONITOR QUIZ: Weekly News Quiz for July 30-August 4, 2011
Share and Enjoy
More Hot Small Business Contests, Summer Through Fall
August 6, 2011 by admin
Filed under Latest Lingerie News
This list of contests, competitions and awards for small businesses is brought to you every other week as a community service by Small Business Trends and Smallbiztechnology.com.
If you’ve entered and won a contest or award listed here, let us know so we can share your news.
-
* * * * *
Small Business Influencer Awards
Vote before August 10, 2011
The Small Business Influencer Awards are going on right now. There’s still time to vote on the 520 nominees, through August 9, 2011. Weren’t nominated this year? Here’s what we suggest:
(1) Get behind a nominee or several nominees, and vote for them. And check out the Twitter activity by following the #SMBinfluencer hashtag. That way you’ll experience the excitement first hand.
(2) Join us in New York on the evening of September 13, 2011 for the Awards Gala, at the Auditorium on Broadway at NYIT.
(3) Mark your calendar for next May 2012, to start watching out for next year’s Small Business Influencer Awards announcement. We will do a call for nominations for the 2nd Annual Small Business Influencer Awards. This will be an annual initiative.
Top 10 Facebook Page Contest
Enter by August 22, 2011
Social Media Examiner is accepting nominations for its “Top 10 Small Business Facebook Page” contest. Nominations are made via comment on this post about why you like the page you are nominating.
Winners will be selected based on the quality of their Facebook pages, the frequency and quality of their wall activities and fan engagement. Think part readers’ choice and part Oscars. In addition to online exposure, each of the top 10 winners will also get free tickets to Facebook Success Summit 2011—the web’s largest online Facebook marketing conference.
Avaya Small Business Innovators Contest
Enter by August 30, 2011
Do you have an idea that will change the way your business serves your customers? Innovation is the engine that makes every business more productive and helps it to grow. To enter Avaya’s Small Business Innovators contest, fill out their ROI tool and send them the results. Include how you would spend the savings over the next five years to innovate new ways to serve your customers, staff and suppliers. Grand prize of $50,000 worth of IP Office equipment and software and $5,000 cash. Five runner up prizes of $10,000 worth of IP Office equipment and software.
Supreme Studio Makeover Contest
Enter by August 31, 2011
MacMall’s second annual Supreme Studio Makeover Contest features $26K in total tech prizes for small businesses and creative studios, including highly sought after products such as: Maya 2012, Adobe CS5.5, HP Designjet large format printers, an HP 24″ DreamColor monitor, Microsoft Office for Mac and Apple Time Capsule storage units.
The Promotion Promotion
Enter by August 31, 2011
The UPS Store is launching an online contest to give one lucky entrepreneur a $50,000 marketing makeover. “Like” the UPS Store’s corporate Facebook page for a chance to win up to $3,000 in weekly prizes including AMEX gift cards, Square mobile card readers and more. See Facebook page for details.
Cleantech Open Idea Competition
Enter by September 12, 2011
The Cleantech Open runs the world’s largest clean technology business competition, and they’re looking for the best clean technology ideas from around the world.
Enter to win a prize package of services worth $100,000 to help you start a business to grow your idea. If your idea beats out the competition in the National Competition, you get to represent your country as a Global Ideas finalist at the annual Cleantech Open Awards Gala on November 17, 2010 in San Francisco. There, your idea will be presented in a five-minute pitch in front of a crowd of 2,500 investors, entrepreneurs, sponsoring companies, corporations, members of academia, press, and others interested in hearing your ideas and getting involved. The crowd will vote via text message for the “People’s Choice” winner.
Women Who Mean Business 2011
Enter by September 16, 2011
The Washington Business Journal announces the eighth annual Women Who Mean Business awards program. This award is designed to honor the region’s most influential business women. We’re looking for women from every industry and profession; women who’ve made a difference in their communities, blazed a trail for the rest of us and are leaving a mark on the Washington-area community.
Nominees must be female residents of the Washington area who are employed in the region.
A nominee should be an established business leader with a strong record of innovation in her field, outstanding performance in her business and/or a clear track record of meaningful community involvement.
Dream Big Grow Here Business Grant Contest
Enter by September 23, 2011
Northeast Iowa Business Network and MyEntre.Net, Iowa’s online community for Iowa entrepreneurs and small business, have announced the launch of the new “Dream Big, Grow Here” contest for small businesses in Northeast Iowa.
Applicants can submit a video or email about their business and share their dreams for how they would like to grow their Iowa company and what it means to them to be in business in Iowa.
Other visitors to Dream Big Grow Here will have the opportunity to vote on the ideas they like the best, with the winning entrepreneur pocketing $5,000 for their business. Regional winners can then go on to compete for the grand prize of $10,000 against the other regional winners.
ProjectREV
Enter by September 30, 2011
Project REV was launched in 2010 as a contest that gives small business owners a chance to receive a yearlong marketing makeover. Each participant is teamed up with a Deluxe marketing advisor and a business counselor from SCORE. At the kick-off event, the business owner will work with their advisor to analyze the business’s current marketplace situation and create a customized plan applying up to $15,000 in marketing products and services from Deluxe, including website design and hosting, branding, social media marketing, SEO, email marketing, and more. See website for more details.
To find more small business events, contests and awards, visit our Small Business Events Calendar.
If you are putting on a small business contest, award or competition, and want to get the word out to the community, please submit it through our Small Business Event and Contests Form (it’s free).
Please note: The descriptions provided here are for convenience only and are NOT the official rules. ALWAYS read official rules carefully at the site holding the competition, contest or award.
About the Author
Laura Leites is managing editor of SmallBizTechnology.
In addition to writing about technology tools for SMBs, Laura manages the day-to-day operations of Smallbiztechnology.com. She also produces their live and virtual events, including the Taste of Technology Small Business Series.
