Saturday, August 30, 2014

The FTC (Federal Trade Commission) Recently Fined A Company $350,000

By Rahmah Sajid


Well known in anti-spam circles and occupying the number two spot for worst spammers in the world by the Spamhaus ROKSO, (Register of Known Spam Operations), Kobeni Solutions, or Yair Shalev & Kobeni Inc. were found guilty in a spam lawsuit brought by the FTC. The Federal Trade Commission imposed a fine of $350,000 on Kobeni Solutions in settlement of a spam operation involving the Affordable Care Act, even though they have not admitted or denied guilt.



The Spamhaus Register of Known Spam Operations has been keeping an eye on Yair Shalev and Kobeni Solutions for a while. Kobeni Solutions is considered as the second most active spammer in the world. Yair Shalev apparently partnered with another well-known spammer named Darrin Wohl. He is also the son-in-law of Dan Abramovich, another spammer monitored by the ROKSO.

The Federal Trade Commission fined Yair Shalev for failing to provide recipients with a link they could use to unsubscribe from the emails and also for failing to add a postal address to the emails. Kobeni Solutions was sending emails explaining that recipients should purchase health coverage. Recipients were encouraged to click on a link that would take them to a page filled with ads for insurance companies. Kobeni Solutions denied being aware of the scam but received money from the companies that benefited from the traffic.

Yair Shalev, described as a snowshoe spammer is known to have been involved in the past with partners such as ROKSO listed spammers Darrin Wohl and his son-in-law, Dan Abramovich. "Snowshoe" spam methods involve the spread of messages covering a wide range of IP domain names and addresses in order to avoid reputation systems and being block listed. Shalev and his company Kobeni Inc. are associated with more than a hundred domain names and IP addresses currently on the ROKSO Spamhaus block list.

In January, the defendants were charged as being in violation of FTC regulations, due to the spread of misleading information regarding legal deadlines. Recipients were misled that not clicking the included link, would lead to being in violation of Affordable Care Act regulations. With resulting legal consequences.

When clicked the links led them to designated websites where advertisements for insurance companies were displayed. The insurance companies involved claim they are completely unaware of the scam, but the website owners paid Shalev and Kobeni for the traffic received.




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