Thursday, July 12, 2007

Texans Charged With Using Botnet In Pump-And-Dump Scheme

Via Informationweek -

The Texas attorney general charged two men with running a pump-and-dump spam scam that defrauded investors out of more than $4.6 million.

On Monday, Darrel Uselton, 40, of Katy, Texas, and his uncle, Jack Uselton, 69, of Houston, face organized criminal activity and money laundering charges, along with securities fraud charges. Both men, who were indicted on July 3 by a Harris County grand jury, still are the subject of an ongoing investigation being conducted by several states and the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Both men are accused of using a nationwide botnet of hijacked computers to distribute the spam. The investigation reportedly began after an SEC lawyer received one of the fraudulent e-mails at work.

Darrel Uselton was arrested and is being held in Harris County Jail in lieu of $8 million bond. An arrest warrant has been issued for Jack Uselton.

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