Security threats Toolkit

Russian spammer found dead

Will Sturgeon silicon.com

Published: 26 Jul 2005 18:05 BST

Known spammer Vardan Kushnir has been found dead in his Moscow apartment, having apparently been beaten to death about the head.

The case is being treated as murder though no motive has yet been established, according to reports citing the public prosecutions office of Moscow's central district.

As such it is too early to say whether the attack was related to Kushnir's spamming activities but in the past his operation has been subject to a number of revenge attacks — though nothing so serious as the apparent attack which has now left him dead.

Kushnir ran the Center for American English in Moscow and a history of spamming activities had previously raised the ire of many Web users.

In July 2003, Russia's deputy communications minister, Andrei Korotkov, became so incensed about the volumes of spam he was receiving he instigated a DoS attack against the school's phone system.

Korotkov claimed he was receiving 40 emails per day prior to setting up an automated calling system which bombarded the school's phone line with messages urging them to stop sending out illegal email marketing.

In terms of more even-handed justice being meted out to spammers, a group of 310 individuals involved in committing Nigerian 419 scams was arrested late last week in Spain.

Spanish police and the FBI arrested the Nigerian gangsters, who are believed to have raised around £70m from email scams involving fake lotteries as well as from the trademarks scams which claim to be offering a large sum of money in need of laundering from a corrupt government or dishonest bank.