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The Federal Trade Commission and several other law enforcement agencies have filed 45 civil and criminal actions against alleged Web scammers and deceptive spammers, and have kicked off an initiative to close the open relays that allow spammers to evade filters.

The FTC joined other governmental agencies and law enforcement representatives on Thursday to describe efforts under NetForce, a cooperative effort against spam and scams. Describing the project were representatives of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Postal Inspection Service, and the FTC, as well as three U.S. attorneys and three state attorneys general.

NetForce is targeting law enforcement of a handful of illegal Internet-based schemes. The focus is on auction fraud; the illegal sale of controlled substances, specifically tobacco sales to minors; deceptive moneymaking scams; and identity theft.

Joining Forces

"Internet crimes typically are not confined to a single jurisdiction," said Greg Abbott, Texas attorney general. "Through the World Wide Web, these crimes cross all jurisdictional boundaries. ... We are working to protect consumers from Internet scams and to protect children from predators and child pornographers."

Five actions filed in Texas on Thursday cover simple scams all the way to complex schemes. Two of the cases filed involve an online chain letter scheme that falsely promised other participants big dollar returns. The FTC has also filed three suits against bogus online business opportunity schemes.

In the last ten days alone, the FTC and NetForce partners have filed more than eight new actions, the largest against Alyon Technologies. The FTC has charged Alyon of illegally rerouting Internet connections to its own connection in New Jersey, thereby charging users hundreds of dollars in long-distance fees.

The case against Alyon "was a collaborated effort by the FTC and numerous attorneys general and emphasizes what can be done when state and federal law enforcement work together," said Mark Groman, with the FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection. "In this case the FTC received over 1200 complaints from consumers about the unfair and deceptive billing practices of Alyon Technologies."

Snuffing Out Spam

While Groman said that law enforcement action is important, he admitted that law enforcement alone will not stop the spam epidemic. To further eradicate unwanted spam, the FTC and NetForce partners have coordinated the Open Relay Project. The project takes aim at shutting down open relays--e-mail servers that allow anyone anywhere in the world to bounce or route e-mail, enabling spammers to conceal identities and avoid filters.

"We want the open relays around the world closed," Groman continued. So far, "as part of this initiative, 50 individuals from 16 law enforcement agencies identified 1000 potential open relays around the world and are located in 59 different countries."

On Tuesday, the FTC sent e-mail letters to contacts at each potential open relay to suggest they take the necessary steps to secure their servers and close the open relays.

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