British spammer Peter Francis-Macrae who went by the online moniker of "Weaselboy", is said to have earned more than £100,000 a week by selling bogus .eu internet domain names from his father's house in St Neots, Cambridgeshire.

Businesses who complained about being sold the false domain names were mail-bombed with millions of junk emails, and investigating police officers were told that their headquarters would be petrol-bombed.

The 23-year-old was found guilty at Peterborough Crown Court of fraudulent trading, concealing criminal property, threatening to destroy or damage property, blackmail, and making death threats. Investigators claim that he has refused to divulge where he has hidden more than £1.1 million.

Carole Theriault, senior security consultant for web security firm Sophos, said:

"Peter Francis-Macrae's stiff sentence sends out a clear message to others who may be tempted to engage in internet crime. The details of how he threatened those who got in the way of his crime spree make harrowing reading.

"We hope other young people will think twice before making the mistakes this man made, and not be tempted by a life of cybercrime."

Back to index