US and Canadian authorities Tuesday announced a new crackdown on deceptive e-mail advertising, known as "spam," with legal action in dozens of cases and warnings issued to hundreds.
The announcement came as part of a coordinated effort by the US Federal Trade Commission, Canada's Competition Bureau and several US state and Canadian provincial governments.
The actions were aimed at e-mails promoting get-rich-quick schemes, bogus cancer cures, fake diploma mills and others accused of misleading come-ons. A total of 63 enforcement actions were taken, with 500 warnings issued, the FTC said.
"Cyberspace is a wondrous place, but we are quickly learning that it can also be a dangerous place for the unwary," said Washington Attorney General Christine Gregoire, who participated in a news conference with the FTC.
"Con artists who once relied on telephone boiler rooms and mass mailings can now rip people off through Web sites and e-mail. While the scams are often very familiar, use of the Internet creates some major new challenges for consumer protection organizations.
That's why it's so important that those of us who enforce state, provincial and national consumer protection laws work together to meet these new challenges."
The FTC statement provided details on three of the cases:
-- The agency filed a complaint against Universal Direct and its operators, Linda Jean Lightfoot and Charles Childs, for perpetrating an Internet chain letter scheme promising participants would receive at least US$10,000. The complaint asks a federal court to halt the scheme and freeze the defendants' assets pending trial.
-- A separate complaint was filed against David Walker of Olympia, Washington state, for marketing what officials called a "scientifically suspect and unproven cure" for cancer, charging US$2,400 to US$5,200.
-- In a third case, an Oregon firm, Sound City 2000, and Linda Simmons, agreed to settle charges that they collected money for music CDs that were never delivered.
The agencies sent out some 500 warning letters to persons alleged to be operating illegal chain letter schemes on the Internet, or using false links that promise to remove the recipient from further e-mails.
Chuck Harwood, director of the FTC's northwest region, said the agency's probe failed to substantiate a popular myth that clicking on the "remove me" link would stimulate more spam.
But he said that most of these messages went to either "dead" or invalid mailboxes, and that authorities consider the use of such tactics a violation of FTC rules on deceptive advertising.
FTC officials acknowledge it is not illegal to send unsolicited e-mail, but have been stepping up enforcement efforts against any ads that are misleading or deceptive.
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