A software engineer working for America Online was last night charged with stealing the internet service provider's entire subscriber list and selling it to spammers, the senders of unsolicited junk emails.
Jason Smathers, 24, was arrested on conspiracy charges at his home in West Virginia, close to AOL's headquarters, where he had worked since 1999. Sean Dunaway, 21, who bought the list of 92m screen names, was arrested in Las Vegas.
Although detailed customer information was obtained, there is no evidence that any credit card details were stolen.
According to the indictment, Mr Smathers used his skills to steal AOL's database of customer account screen names in May 2003. He sold the list to Mr Dunaway and possibly others. Mr Dunaway allegedly used it to promote his own internet gambling website and is said to have boasted that spamming was bringing in up to $20,000 (£11,000) a day.
Mr Dunaway is said to have sold the list on, including to someone marketing herbal penile enlargement pills. The buyer apparently paid $52,000.
Realising the value of the list, Mr Dunaway later paid Mr Smathers another $100,000 for an updated version, which he again sold to third parties.
The pair face up to five years in prison and fines of $250,000.
Jason Smathers, 24, was arrested on conspiracy charges at his home in West Virginia, close to AOL's headquarters, where he had worked since 1999. Sean Dunaway, 21, who bought the list of 92m screen names, was arrested in Las Vegas.
Although detailed customer information was obtained, there is no evidence that any credit card details were stolen.
According to the indictment, Mr Smathers used his skills to steal AOL's database of customer account screen names in May 2003. He sold the list to Mr Dunaway and possibly others. Mr Dunaway allegedly used it to promote his own internet gambling website and is said to have boasted that spamming was bringing in up to $20,000 (£11,000) a day.
Mr Dunaway is said to have sold the list on, including to someone marketing herbal penile enlargement pills. The buyer apparently paid $52,000.
Realising the value of the list, Mr Dunaway later paid Mr Smathers another $100,000 for an updated version, which he again sold to third parties.
The pair face up to five years in prison and fines of $250,000.
