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Calif. Man Faces Phishing Charges

Jeffrey Brett Goodin of Azusa, Calif., was arrested on federal charges after allegedly using fake e-mail accounts to trick America Online Inc. users into sending him their personal and credit card information. According to the FBI, the phishing scam led to an unknown number of unauthorized purchases.

Spammer Must Pay AOL $5.5M

A federal judge has ordered Christopher William Smith of Prior Lake, Minn., to pay AOL more than US$5.5 million in damages and legal fees for sending billions of spam messages. AOL sued Smith in 2004 under the CAN-SPAM Act. Smith, using the name Rizler, was considered one of the world's worst spammers.