AOL worker sold customer list for SPAM

acidosmosis · Jun 23, 2004

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. investigators said on Wednesday they had arrested an America Online (NYSE:TWX - news) employee for stealing the Internet provider's customer list and selling it to a purveyor of "spam" e-mail.

Jason Smathers of Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, has been charged with stealing a list of 92 million AOL customer screen names and selling them to Internet marketer Sean Dunaway of Las Vegas, said David Kelley, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York in a statement.

Dunaway, who has also been arrested, used the list to promote his online gambling operation and also sold the list to other spammers for $52,000, Kelley said.

Both men face up to five years in prison and a fine of $250,000 under a national anti-spam law.

Working as an engineer in AOL's Dulles, Virginia, headquarters, Smathers, 24, was able to access screen names, zip codes and credit-card types, though not credit-card numbers, of the company's 30 million customers, Kelley said.

AOL said it discovered the activity during a spam investigation. Smathers has been fired, the company said.

"We deeply regret what has taken place and are thoroughly reviewing and strengthening our internal procedures as a result of this investigation and arrest," the company said in a statement.

Full story at http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20040623/us_nm/tech_aol_spam_dc_6

I just have to say. That is what you get for using AOL.

Justin · Jun 23, 2004

No wonder it's number 1!

STK · Jul 3, 2004

an extra slow connection and added spam, just what i want. i think ill join the 90 million users right now

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AOL worker sold customer list for SPAM

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Justin Newcomer, in training

STK Newcomer, in training