A California man has been convicted by a jury in Los Angeles for sending thousands of e-mails to AOL subscribers that looked like they were from the Internet service provider’s billing department and prompted the customers to send personal and credit card information.
It is the nation’s first jury conviction under the Can Spam Act of 2003.
Jeffrey Brett Goodin, 45, was found guilty last week of operating a phishing scheme aiming to trick people into giving their credit card information by making them think they were corresponding with an AOL billing employee, the U.S. Attorney’s office in Los Angeles said Tuesday.
Goodin used the credit card information to make an unspecified amount of unauthorized purchases, according to prosecutors. Assistant U.S. Attorney Rozella Oliver said law enforcement officials found “dozens and dozens” of other people’s credit card numbers on Goodin’s computer.
Goodin is scheduled to be sentenced June 11 in Los Angeles federal court.
He faces as many as 101 years in prison.