July 29, 2004
A federal court in Chicago has issued a court order halting illegal spamming and deceptive product claims by a spammer who has allegedly sent millions of spam e-mails promoting bogus human growth hormone.
Creaghan A. Harry of Boca Raton, Florida, also operates a series of Web sites marketing such products as Supreme Formula HGH and Youthful Vigor HGH. The Web sites claim that the products stop or reverse the aging process, causing a veritable laundry list of effects like weight loss, muscle gain, hair regrowth, wrinkle removal, and higher energy levels.
Experts for the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have concluded that the claims are wholly false and that Harrys products had no discernible effect on the body. Harry charges $79.95 for a one-month supply of the bogus products. The FTC alleges that these false product claims have defrauded thousands of consumers of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The FTC also asserts that Harry took many steps to hide his involvement with the bogus operation, using a variety of names, foreign addresses, anonymous Web sites and spam, and having the proceeds of the product sales deposited into a bank account in Latvia.
The defendant disguised the source of spam by sending the messages through open proxies, which are vulnerable computers through which a spammer can route email messages. Sending the messages through these vulnerable computers essentially launders the emails, making it appear as though they were sent by the party with the vulnerable computer.
The FTC also alleges that in certain instances, the source of Harrys emails was disguised by forging return addresses in the reply-to or from fields of his spam a practice known as spoofing.
The FTCs complaint specifically charges that the deceptive product claims violate the FTC Act, and the spam email messages violate the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pronography and Marketing Act of 2003 (CAN-SPAM Act) by: 1) disguising their source; 2) failing to provide a clear and conspicuous notice for consumers to opt-out from further e-mail; and 3) failing to provide a valid physical postal address in the message text.
On July 27, 2004, a U.S. District Court Judge issued a temporary restraining order prohibiting illegal spamming, prohibiting false product claims, and freezing Harrys assets to preserve the funds for possible redress to consumers who bought his bogus products.
