US ISP EarthLink has announced its part in the arrests of fraudsters and scammers who allegedly sent over 25,000 email messages using accounts registered at EarthLink subsidiary PeoplePC.

Two individuals, Jared Cosgrave and Mohammed Haque, have been charged with fraud and related activity in connection with electronic mail in violation of the Can-Spam Act in the State of Florida. Both have pleaded guilty.

"Spammers who set up PeoplePC accounts for the sole purpose of sending spam will be dealt with harshly. EarthLink is committed to cracking down on any abuse of its networks," said Lindsey Wegrzyn, operations security enforcement advisor at the ISP.

The arrests and charges come after a month-long investigation last year by EarthLink's fraud and abuse team.

In November 2005, the team discovered thousands of unsolicited emails with the subject lines 'I'm finally back home' and 'I just got back in town'. They also became aware of another stream of messages promoting herbal supplements.

FBI agents tracked the source of the emails and a search warrant was issued that led to the arrests of the alleged spammers.

Earlier this week, EarthLink helped to smash a phishing ring involving six individuals in Connecticut.