A spammer who allegedly falsified business records and opened e-mail accounts using stolen identities was indicted in New York.
Howard Carmack, Buffalo, NY, sent 825 million forged e-mails using EarthLink accounts that he obtained using 345 stolen identities, according to state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer. The e-mails offered software, herbal sexual stimulants and bulk e-mail lists.
Carmack has been charged with second-degree forgery, criminal possession of a forgery device, two counts of falsifying business records and two counts of identity theft, a misdemeanor.
The case is the first one prosecuted under New York’s new identity theft statute.
According to Spitzer, Carmack opened accounts with EarthLink using the personal data of Buffalo-area residents. He then used software designed to mask the sender’s identity to remove the EarthLink e-mail address and replace it with a forged address, the state continues.
He also forged e-mail headers, a practice known as "e-mail spoofing," Spitzer continued.
"This defendant stole the identities of innocent New Yorkers to spam millions of consumers throughout New York and the nation," Spitzer said in a statement.
EarthLink has filed civil litigation against Carmack in Atlanta, according to Spitzer.
