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AOL Awards $85,000 To Spam Sweepstakes Winner
America Online played Robin Hood on Thursday, delivering more than $85,000 in cash and gold bars, as well as the keys to a Hummer H2, to 53-year-old welder Marc Daniels.
America Online played Robin Hood on Thursday, delivering more than $85,000 in cash and gold bars, as well as the keys to a Hummer H2, to 53-year-old welder Marc Daniels.
The company collected the money and goods as part of a settlement in a multi-million dollar spam lawsuit. In August, more than 1 million people entered AOL's Spammer's Gold Sweepstakes for a shot at the prize.
Daniels, the grand prize winner, received the loot at a ceremony at the company's headquarters in Dulles, Va. Daniels, of East Haddam, Conn., said he'll use the money to retire and pay off debt.
AOL Senior Vice President and Deputy General Counsel Curtis Lu announced in a statement that he hopes spammers receive the message: "We will find you, and we will do everything we can to take away your ill-gotten gains."
Lu said the company has cut spam by 85 percent through new state laws, through legal actions, with its "Report Spam" button. It also reported more than 4.3 million page views for its Spammer's Gold promotion.
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