Global spam operation is shut down

The spammers sent out billions of e-mails in recent years encouraging people to click through to websites that allegedly used false claims to peddle prescription drugs, as well as "male enhancement" and weight-loss pills.

The Federal Trade Commission received more than 3 million complaints about the spam and related websites, illustrating the scale of the operation, officials said.

The sites, including one called Canadian Healthcare, were difficult to distinguish from legitimate online pharmacies -- making the pitches more persuasive, said Steve Baker, the FTC's Midwest Region director.

"These sites are really professionally constructed," he said. "Some years ago you used to be able to tell the bogus things because they looked cheesy and had misspellings. Anymore, I don't think that's true."

The operation violated the federal CAN-SPAM Act of 2003, meant to restrict commercial spam, by using false header information to hide the origin of messages, not offering an opt-out link and failing to list a postal address, the FTC said.

A federal judge in Chicago issued a temporary injunction to halt the operation and also froze its assets. The FBI is investigating, and those involved could also face criminal charges, Baker said.

Those spearheading the enterprise, known as "Affking" on the Internet, included a U.S. and a New Zealand citizen, according to court documents.

Servers in China hosted the websites, and the drugs were shipped from India, while operatives in Cyprus and the former Soviet republic of Georgia processed credit card information, Baker said.