Mega-spammer arrested in Tokyo

IT security and control firm Sophos is warning companies to abide by anti-spam laws following the arrest of a man suspected of sending over 2 billion unwanted commercial emails.

According to media reports, police in Tokyo, Japan, have arrested 25-year-old Yuki Shiina following a complaint last year by an internet service provider (ISP) that he was sending huge amount of spam emails advertising gambling and dating websites.  Police believe that Shiina bought 600,000 email addresses off the internet for 100,000 yen (USD 927) and earned over 2 million yen (USD 18,540) through the spam campaign.

It is claimed that Shiina faked the sender information on the emails in an attempt to avoid detection, breaking Japanese laws.

Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos commented: