ACMA Investigates Australian Viagra Spam

The 'Australian Communications and Media Authority' (ACMA) has raided the house of an Australian resident because the man allegedly distributed billions of unsolicited e-mails advancing Viagra. The authorities did not declare the location of the house or date of the raid but said it was a recent event.

The Australian man hired 35 computer servers from an Internet service provider based in Holland and used it to send spam mails all over the world. ACMA is interrogating the man as a part of an international investigation after the Dutch authorities sent a signal about the possibility of the Australian man's spam activities using servers located in Holland.

Enumerating on the preliminary analysis of the e-mail message, Ms. Lyn Maddock, the acting chairperson on ACMA said that more than 2 billion e-mails have been distributed as a part of the spam campaign. The analysis further confirmed that the spam messages promoted Viagra products.

Under section 7 of the 'Australian Spam Act' the Viagra spam sent from overseas is marked as offence for an Australian to be entwined in spamming using an 'Australian link'.

The 'Australian Spam Act' was implemented in 2003 to prohibit spamming inside the country as well as outside it. The act of dispatching bulk unsolicited e-mails is considered a civil offence and those who repeat it can be fined up to 1.1 million Australian dollars per day.

To curb such incidents from other angles, the ISP was warned a fine of $36,000 per month if its servers provided facilities to help send spam.

In a separate statement, a senior technology consultant at UK-based security firm, Sophos, Mr. Graham Cluley commented that spam, which was a global problem, could send out junk e-mail messages promoting and selling drugs. And Internet users could receive these around the world. He added that the high level co-operation between international authorities was a good sign and hoped that it sent a clear warning to spammers that their activities will not be allowed.

Internet users are advised to be wary of purchasing medicines from spammers online. People needing medication should consult an authorized doctor rather than a quack on the Internet.

Related article: ACMA Unleashes SpamMATTERS - the New anti-spam Button

» SPAMfighter News - 9/19/2006