FTC Promises Crackdown on E-Mail Fraud

The Federal Trade Commission on Thursday promised to crack down on unsolicited commercial e-mail, after hearing a slew of complaints from Internet users and access companies.

A top agency official said government regulators will increase their efforts under existing fraud laws to punish companies and individuals that use unsolicited e-mail to make deceptive business claims.

Such messages--which might advertise a “Unique Business Opportunity,” a chance to “Build Wealth Now” or a way to “Make $$$$”--arrive frequently at many electronic mailboxes and have become a common gripe for many Internet users.

“A lot of the problem with unsolicited e-mail is that it is fraudulent, and we want to start enforcing the laws in this area,” FTC Commissioner Christine Varney said in an interview.

Varney, in a hearing on the issue Thursday, asked Internet users and those in the industry to inform regulators of fraudulent offers.

It costs almost nothing for somebody with an Internet account to send millions of messages, but Internet service providers complain that the flow is slowing their operations and forcing them to buy costly new computers.

At America Online Inc., for example, between 5% and 30% of the 15 million Internet e-mail messages sent to its subscribers every day are unsolicited, testified Jill Lesser, an AOL lawyer.