Soloway reveals motivations

2008-10-01

Helen Martin

Virus Bulletin, UK

Editor: Helen Martin

Abstract

Convicted spammer gives interview before going behind bars.

Convicted spammer Robert Soloway has spoken out about his life as a prolific spammer in an interview conducted by NBC News just prior to the start of his almost-four-year jail sentence. In the interview Soloway estimated that he had been responsible for sending over 10 trillion spam messages, most of which he says probably originated from his home PC. Asked about how he felt at the time about the impact his actions had on recipients of his missives, he said he didn’t care, and that he felt that anyone who didn’t like receiving the messages could simply delete them.

Soloway claims to have made $20,000 a day from spamming at the height of his career – a large proportion of which he spent on property, designer clothes, extravagant holidays and luxury cars. Asked about his motives, Soloway’s answer was simple: ‘Pure greed’. You don’t say.

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