Howard Carmack

Howard Carmack, also known as the Buffalo Spammer,[1] was the first sender of spam in the United States to be imprisoned. He was arrested in New York in May 2003,[2] and sentenced in March 2004 to between 3.5 and 7 years in prison.[3]

Carmack sent out 825 million e-mails, fraudulently using the identities of two people from the city of Buffalo, as well as hundreds of aliases.[4]

Before this conviction, Carmack also lost a lawsuit before a federal court in Atlanta, which required him to pay damages of US$14.5 million to Earthlink, his former internet service provider, for the same actions.[5]

  1. ^ "Jury Finds Buffalo Spammer Guilty Of Identity Theft And Forgery". New York State Attorney General. April 1, 2004. Retrieved July 31, 2012.
  2. ^ "Buffalo Spammer' Arraigned On". New York State Attorney General. May 14, 2003. Retrieved July 31, 2012.
  3. ^ "Buffalo spammer gets 3.5 to 7 years". InfoWorld. May 27, 2004. Retrieved July 31, 2012.
  4. ^ "'Buffalo Spammer' Convicted". PC World. April 1, 2004. Retrieved July 31, 2012.
  5. ^ "EarthLink Wins $16 Million in Spam Case". PC World. May 7, 2003. Archived from the original on June 5, 2011. Retrieved July 31, 2012.