The Atkinson brothers apparently knew they were attracting some unwanted attention even before the raid.

New Zealand authorities seized the computers just days after a BBC reporter, looking to track down the source of some spam in his inbox, telephoned Shane Atkinson for an , according to the Department of Internal Affairs.

The spamming network, which may have accounted for as much as one-third of the world's spam at one point, included operations in the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, China, India, Russia and Canada, the FTC said in a statement, released Tuesday.

After examining the products sold by the spam network, the FTC found that the spammers were selling "100 percent herbal" male-enhancement pills, called VPXL, that did not work as promised, and which were certainly not all-herbal. The pills contained sildenafil, the active ingredient in Viagra, and could have been dangerous to people who were also taking nitrate-based drugs used to treat conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes or heart disease.

The FTC also found out that some drugs sold by the spammers were shipped direct from India and had not been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. They found that other products, such as a Hoodia gordonii weight-loss pill, simply didn't work as advertised.