Igor Gusev’s spam empire said to have earned over $100m
Written by Iain Thomson in San Francisco, V3.co.uk
Russian police are reported to have filed a criminal case against a man accused of being one of the world’s most prolific spammers.
Igor Gusev and his company Despmedia are accused of running a huge pharmaceutical spam operation that police estimate generated $120m (£75m) in three and a half years, primarily by selling counterfeit pharmaceuticals such as Viagra.
Russia’s Federal Security Service closed down the spamdot.biz web site last year, which was reportedly run by Glavmed.com, which was controlled by Despmedia.
Police raided Gusev’s home on 26 October, and said that, as far as they are aware, he is not in Russia at the moment, but that they are actively looking for him. Gusev is thought to have made $2m (£1.25m) personally from his businesses.
Gusev’s lawyer, Vadim Kolosov, confirmed to Reuters that a criminal case had been opened against his client, but maintained that he “has no relation to these activities”.
Russia has become an increasingly popular location for online criminals, particularly since the Chinese government took steps to crack down on abuse within its borders.