A Detroit man named Daniel Lin is accused of sending millions of illegal spam emails from compromised computers, and is expected to plead guilty in a U.S. court session on Tuesday. He is accused of utilising hacked computers belonging to the Ford Motor Company, Amoco, Unisys, the U.S. Army Information Center and the Administrative Office of U.S. Courts. Lin is likely to face a prison sentence of at least two years.
"Spammers clog the internet with unwanted messages, making life harder for everyone with an email address and peddling bogus goods to the unwary. They also don't balk at exploiting the computers of innocent people and companies to relay their unwanted spam onto other computer users," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos. "Weight-loss products are just one of many goods plugged by spammers, but many computer users faced by the growing tide of spam will probably like to see spammers go on a diet of bread-and-water."