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Spam criminal Sanford Wallace faces jail

A cybercriminal who has become the subject of a Facebook spamming law suit could face jail if he is convicted.

The social networking website is hoping to bring criminal proceedings against the "spam king" after it sued Sanford and two others in February.

Facebook alleged they used phishing sites and other means to fraudulently gain access to users' accounts to distribute spam.

"We're very pleased Judge Jeremy Fogel agreed that there were grounds for criminal contempt and that the US Attorney's office should investigate Wallace," Facebook said in an email statement.

The company added: "Wallace filed for bankruptcy, which is not unexpected and only delays our judgment temporarily. We will continue to pursue the judgment and will be reviewing his filing very closely."

In May 2008, MySpace won a $234 million (£143 million) judgement against Wallace and his business partner Walter Rines for illegal phishing activity and spamming of MySpace users' accounts.

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