FBI: Man Responsible for 10B Daily Emails Nabbed

Spam King Arrested in Las Vegas

Russian "King of Spam" Arrested and Charged with Being Responsible for up to One-Third of the World's Daily Spam Emails

 

LAS VEGAS - No one likes spam e-mail. UNLV graduate assistant Becky Bosshart, for example, hates junk e-mail.

"Obviously, getting spam in your e-mail inbox is probably the most annoying thing that can possibly happen," she said. "The first time I see it, I delete it. I do get a lot of the Viagra ones. I think even those slip through, so that's kind of annoying."

We now know who may be responsible for that message trying to sell you cheap Viagra. According to a criminal complaint obtained by 8 News NOW, 23-year-old Oleg Nikolaenko of Moscow is charged with violating a federal act that bans excessive spamming.

Agents, hot on his trail, arrested Nikolaenko at the Bellagio last month. He was in Las Vegas attending the Specialty Electronics Market Association (SEMA) trade show.

 

"This was a major FBI cyber investigation that was deemed a success due to the good work of our high-tech cyber investigators and significant contributions from the private sector and our partners at the Federal Trade Commission," said FBI Milwaukee spokesman Leonard Peace. "At the end of the day, we pulled the plug on a major international spam operation, and now have that individual in custody."

Court documents reveal a man who was busted for selling counterfeit Rolex watches alerted federal authorities to Nikolaenko. The informant told agents he paid spammers more than $2 million to flood inboxes with advertisements. That tip led to Nikolaenko's sophisticated spamming network.

The FBI says Nikolaenko also ripped off consumers with promises to sell Viagra. Agents say his spam e-mails advertised Viagra, but people who ordered the pills never received them. 

"It's a good thing he got caught. I'm happy about it," said computer user Joey Petrella.

Authorities transported Nikolaenko from Las Vegas to Milwaukee, where the massive investigation is based. He is scheduled to appear in federal court tomorrow morning. His attorney promises a rigorous defense.

While the accused mastermind may be away from his keyboard, tech-savvy con-artists still swamp the Internet with spam. Computer experts say other spammers are already filling the void left by Nikolaenko's operation.

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