According to Brian Krebs of the Krebs on Security newswire, whilst the spambot revenue allowed Cosma2k to buy several luxury cars – including a Porsche Cayenne and BMW 650 – the cars were too flashy and ended up being stolen by thieves.
“In March, I published a story linking the Rustock botnet to a spammer who used the nickname Cosma2k. This individual was consistently one of the top five moneymakers for SpamIt, which, until its closure last [autumn], paid spammers millions of dollars a year and was the world's largest distributor of junk mail”, he says in his latest security posting.
Krebs goes on to say that in the internet chats that Cosma2k had with his apparently cybercriminal colleagues, he revealed he had “dialled back his public image a few notches” after attracting unwanted attention from other crooks.
Cosma said that he had had enough of expensive cars, as they getting stolen all the time and “everyone is looking at you, estimating the score, and then robbing you.”
The uber-spammer then revealed he is now driving a BMW 530Xi as it only had a three litre engine, which he reports as being a much calmer car.
The Porsche Cayenne, he told his colleague, was stolen within six months, along with a BMW 650. “I was gagged, tied up - badly beaten.. uhhh - I am shivering from those memories... I gave them everything. Life is more precious”, he said.
Krebs goes on to say that, while Microsoft has offered a $250,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the Rustock author(s), if Cosma2K was in control of Rustock, Microsoft's legal team – and most of the internet world - now know what the makes and models of car(s) he drives.