Microsoft, Texas AG, Take Down Two of World’s Top Spammers

The Attorney General of Texas, and Microsoft, this week announced that the Texas Attorney General has filed a lawsuit against a Texas university student, Ryan Samuel Pitylak, and his California partner, Mark Stephen Trotter. Microsoft was one of a group of recipients of the spam, along with Texas anti-spam activist Dewey Coffman, who worked with the Texas AG’s office to bring the spammers to justice.

The two are accused of running PayPerAction, and LeadPlex, which between them sent out millions of pieces of spam in violation of both CAN-SPAM, and Texas anti-spam and trade practices statutes. PayPerAction is accused of operating under at least 250 assumed names alone.

Pitylak, a 22-year old University of Texas student, has a history of spamming from as tender an age as 14, and presently lives in a tony suburb of Austin, Texas, in a house valued at $450,000, and at which he parks both his Jaguar and… [Continued...]