Porn scamster jailed for 11 years

Biggest Net fraud ever, apparently

By Tim Richardson • Get more from this author

Posted in Music and Media, 11th May 2004 12:00 GMT

Free whitepaper – Dell PowerEdge server benchmarks

The man behind what has been described as the largest Internet fraud ever has finally been sentenced to more than 11 years behind bars. Kenneth Taves, 52 - who ran a porno website - netted a whopping $38m (£21m) in unauthorised credit card charges after "signing up" some 900,000 punters to his XXXX service.

The scam only came to light after a number of people complained that they were being billed $19.95 (£11.50) a month for a service to which they had not subscribed. Taves bought a list of credit card details and simply charged subscriptions to them.

Although those hit by Taves' scam are unlikely to get all their cash back, it's hoped that they will get a "substantial" amount of what they are owed. Some $13m has already been recovered, according to a report by AP, and US courts are still trying to recoup another $8m stashed away in banks in the South Pacific island of Vanuatu.

Taves pleaded guilty to the fraud charges back in 2001. Sentencing was delayed due to the complexity of the case and the fact that Taves changed lawyers several times. ®