Top spammer Robert Alan Soloway from Seattle, also known as "Spam King" by the U.S. attorney's office for the Western District of Washington, was arrested Wednesday morning and is set to face 35 charges related to suspected fraudulent activities including mail fraud, wire fraud, e-mail fraud, aggravated identity theft and money laundering.
Soloway advertised a mass e-mail service that sent messages to an opt-in list of addresses, but didn't actually use such a permission-based list, the indictment said. He also sold software products that customers could use themselves to send out mass e-mails. However, the product often didn't work and if it did, it sent e-mails using forged headers. He also failed to offer promised support services, according to the court documents.
Soloway operates through his own company called Newport Internet Marketing which was founded in 1998. However, he is being charged for spamming activities conducted between November 2003 and May 2007. If found guilty, he faces fines of over $772,000 as well as forfeiture of other money and property.