SEC brings case against pump-and-dump spammers
Scam spotted after spammed mail sent to SEC lawyer.
Two men from Texas have been charged with a range of spam and fraud offences after a 20-month campaign using
botnets to spam pump-and-dump mails aimed at pushing up the price of a range of 'penny' stocks. Their scam
came to the attention of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), who have brought the case against
them, after a spam pushing the stocks was received by a lawyer working for the Commission.
The two, 40-year-old Darrel Uselton and his 69-year-old uncle Jack Uselton, are described by the SEC as 'recidivist
securities law violators', and allegedly used zombie networks to send out spam promoting stocks in at least
13 companies, swindling gullible recipients out of over $4.6 million in investments. $4.2 million of this has
already been seized from accounts linked to the two men.
The SEC froze several of the 'scalped' stocks in March after noticing suspect activity, and vow to continue to
punish perpetrators of such scams. Full details of the charges brought, which include money laundering and
organised crime charges brought by Texas state and local law enforcement bodies, are in a release from the
SEC here.
11 July 2007
Tags:
arrest, legal, pump-and-dump, spam.
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