Missouri Men Plead Guilty to Email Spam Scheme

This is not art-specific but it is a rare moment when authorities actually catch ANY spammers, so its worth sharing to show that sometimes they are caught. However, its a tiny drop in a bottomless bucket...

Notice how much they were making from the spams. It goes to show how profitable this stupid activity is.

Two Missouri men and their company have pleaded guilty in a nationwide e-mail spamming scheme.

Federal prosecutors say 29-year-old Amir Ahmad Shah, of St. Louis, and his brother, 26-year-old Osmaan Ahmad Shah, of Columbia, and their company, i20, pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court. They admitted being part of a scheme that targeted students at more than 2,000 colleges and universities, including the University of Missouri.

The Shahs admitted that they and others conspired to illegally extracting student e-mail addresses, then sending targeted spam promoting various products and services to the students.

The two men were ordered to forfeit over $439,000 in proceeds from the scam. They face up to eight years in prison.

Paul Zucker, of Wayne, N.J., pleaded guilty in July to his role in the conspiracy.