MySpace.com announced it filed a suit Friday in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California in Los Angeles against Sanford Wallace, accusing him of violating state and federal laws and seeking to bar the "spam king" and his affiliated companies from the social-networking site, in addition to unspecified monetary damages. MySpace charges that Wallace launched a phishing scam in October to fraudulently access MySpace profiles. He also allegedly created profiles, groups and forums on MySpace, spammed thousands of users with unwanted advertisements and lured MySpace users to his Web sites, according to the complaint. "Individuals who try to spam or phish our members are not welcome on MySpace," said Hemanshu Nigam, chief security officer for MySpace.
The MySpace action is only the latest legal claim against Wallace: he has been sued by the Federal Trade Commission and companies including America Online and Concentric Network Corporation. In May, Wallace and his company Smartbot.net were ordered by a federal judge to give up $4,089,500 in ill-gotten gains.