AOL Wants to Dig for Spammer's Gold
In the latest on the ongoing battle between ISPs and spammers, AOL reportedly is planning on sending in bulldozers to dig for gold and platinum it believes a spammer buried on his parents property in order to evade seizure in a lawsuit.
AOL last year won a $12.8 million judgment against Davis Wolfgang Hawke for sending millions of illegal emails to its customers. But Hawke, whose enterprise at one time took in a reported $600,000 a month, disappeared, leaving the ISP empty-handed. AOL has since uncovered several receipts for large purchases of gold and platinum bullion made by Hawke, and gotten a judge's permission to search the two-acre Massachusetts property where it believes Hawke buried his ill-gotten gains with a shovel.
Hawke's family said it will fight AOL's plans in court. In the meantime, if you are contacted via email by someone in a far-off land purporting to be in urgent need of your help in retrieving a cache of treasure hidden in the U.S., and promising you a generous share of the fortune, check the signature. If it's signed Davis Hawke, it just might be genuine <grin>.
