One of the more interesting bits of information which came to light as a result of the State of Virginia's trial and
subsequent conviction against mega-spammer Jeremy James was just how much Jaynes was earning before the nice folks at
the Virginia DA's office put an end to it.
Are you ready?
The answer is…
...somewhere between $400,000 and $750.00.
Per month.
That's right…as much as $750,000, and no less than $400,000, each and every month during the height of his spamming
career.
This amount was paid collectively by somewhere between 10,000 and 17,000 individuals each month - the ones who replied
to the 10million pieces of email which he sent out each day, advertising stock advice, computer
software, and Federal Express refund processing work.
In order to maintain this frenetic financial pace, Jaynes ran 16 high speed Internet connections from his non-descript
home in Raleigh, North Carolina. He would use these to blast out the 10million pieces of spam a day, and then he
would sit back and wait for the orders to role in. And, amazingly, role in they did.
Explained Virginia Assistant Attorney General Russell McGuire: "When you're marketing to the world, there are enough
idiots out there."
Fortunately, with Jaynes' conviction, there is one fewer at large in the world tonight.
Crime Does Pay - If the Crime is Spamming
Reader Comments
(Page 1)7. People won't stop buying.
Spammers write more and more effective copy, answering consumer needs for one thing or another or one emotion or another. Someone will always be taken in by effective copywriting--especially if the transaction actually completes without problem and the consumer gets his goods as expected.
I think we need new technologies, global spam legislation, and an enforcement body. CAN-SPAM is a good start, but it needs to be radified by the other major technology countries, and a some type of enforcement agency, empowered with tools and authority to trace back spam to its source, needs to be erected.
IMHO, spam will never stop. But, it can be controlled. The only way to do that, again, IMHO, is to remove the profit margin from a spam business.
As long as people buy--and they will always buy--there is revenue. The trick is to raise the overhead so it outweighs the revenue. Do that by making spamming an imprisonable criminal offense (internationally), and not only enforcing stiff fines, but seizing assets obtained in conjunction with, or as a result of, that criminal enterprise. The funds seized could then be used, with meticulous oversight and management, to fund the agency enforcing the law and to pay for litigation.
In addition to the direct monetary and personal freedom costs of being caught will be hefty expenditures by spammers toward avoiding detection, arrest, and prosecution. So the cost of doing business in spam would automatically jump.
Just my 2 cents.
Posted at 4:51AM on Dec 19th 2005 by Pariah S. Burke
1. The only way this is ever going away is when people stop buying from spam blasts. If it became economically unviable, spammers would stop. Oh well....
Posted at 4:51AM on Dec 19th 2005 by Ted