GERMANY — Two men convicted of using trojan-horse exploits to infect end-user PCs in furtherance of a porn dialer scam have been sentenced to jail time in Germany, according to the German news agency, ADP.The two men, ages 31 and 35, allegedly spread malicious software between July 2002 and September 2003, infecting approximately 100,000 PCs in the process, primarily within Germany.
Once in place on the infected PCs, the malware would initiate calls to premium rate 0190 phone numbers linked to porn websites. Unaware that they had dialed into the porn dialer, end users would continue to surf, not realizing they were racking up huge phone charges in the process. Germany’s telecoms then issued bills for the charges, paying commissions to the scam operation, not realizing that the charges were illegitimate.
According to ADP, after the dialup scheme was exposed, the German phone system had to be “re-wired to block similar abuse.”
The two men convicted Wednesday reportedly were part of a larger gang that netted 12 million Euros (approximately $15.84 million US dollars) through the dialer scam. One man was sentenced to 48 months in prison, while the other received 39 months.
The prosecution also sought to force the men to pay 7 million Euros in restitution to their victims, but the court declined to impose the fine.
According to ADP, neither side of the dispute is satisfied with the outcome of the trial, and both prosecution and defense intend to appeal.
