These are already times for spammers,and it looks like things are getting even tougher, since a U.S. district court has ordered an international spam ring to cough up $3.7 million for filling your inbox with annoying messages, violating the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003.

The FTC does some well-earned bragging on its site about the court decision, on a 2007 case against spammers from Canada and St. Kitts.

The FTC charged that the operation used spammers to drive traffic to Web sites selling an extract of the hoodia gordonii plant it claimed would cause significant weight loss, and a “natural human growth hormone enhancer” it claimed would reverse the aging process. The FTC alleged that these claims were false or unsubstantiated, and charged the defendants with deceptive advertising in violation of federal law. It also alleged that the spammers sent e-mail that contained false “from” addresses and deceptive subject lines, and that they failed to provide a required opt-out link or physical postal address.

A disappointment to everyone out there who secretly hoped a spam-inspired diet would trim your flab. In the end, the only thing the spam artists knew how to slim down was its own bankroll.

Court Orders Spammers to Give Up $3.7 Million [Federal Trade Commission] (Thanks, Brett!)
(Photo: O Pish Posh)

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