Top spammer hit by junk mail blitz

One of the world's most prolific generators of spam has received a taste of his own medicine.

Alan Ralsky, described by London-based spam trackers Spamhaus as last year's top sender of junk mail, has complained of harassment after internet users signed him up to a deluge of unsolicited mail from all over the world.

He gave an interview to Mike Wendland, technical columnist for the Detroit Free Press, as he moved into his new $740,000 home and proclaimed that he would never stop spamming.

After the item was picked up by techy news website Slashdot, readers began signing up Ralsky for physical junk mail promotions and he has been swamped by brochures, catalogues and trial offer items.

"We're delighted it's happened, although we don't condone it in any way," said Steve Linford, director of Spamhaus.

"Out of a worldwide total of 150 spammers, almost all of whom are American, Ralsky is in the top five, probably sending [between] 20 and 40 million pieces of spam a day."

Ralsky was sued by Verizon in the US after the company alleged that he shut down its network twice in 2000 with the sheer volume of spam he was pumping out.

Verizon claimed damages of $37m but settled in October for an undisclosed sum and a lifetime ban from its networks.

Anti-spam technology company Brightmail said that 40 per cent of all emails sent in November were unsolicited, up from just eight per cent in the same period last year.