Armenian Spammer Found Murdered in Russia
SC Magazine, an IT security magazine, reports that Vardan Kushnir, one of the world’s most notorious spammers, was found bludgeoned to death at his Moscow home on Sunday.
According to Russian news agency Interfax, the 35-year-old Armenian was found dead in his apartment in Moscow, after apparently suffering numerous blows to the head. His death brings to an end the career of one of the world’s most prolific and committed spammers.
Wikipedia says that Kushnir’s “American Language Center” was notorious not ony for its spamming activities but also it’s involvement in “shady business activities.” However, it was spamming that made Kushnir infamous, leading anti-spammers to take some interesting and unique countermeasures.
As a result of his efforts Russians were understandably annoyed and launched their own anti-spam campaign against Kushnir. Users of forums were encouraged to call his offices and disrupt phone lines. ALC numbers were frequently found on call-girl cards in an attempt to inconvenience Kushnir. A murder case has been opened by Moscow police, who are still working out a motive for the attack.
The full news item can be found online here and Wikipedia has some fascinating background on Kushnir and his Moscow-based business. Mosnews also covers the story.
MosNews reports that this crime has now been solved:
http://oneworld.blogsome.com/2005/08/20/russian-police-claim-murder-of-notorious-spammer-solved/
Comment by Administrator — August 21, 2005 @ 11:12 am