2012-02-01
Abstract
GlavTorg network ceases to promote sites selling imitation designer goods.
Copyright © 2012 Virus Bulletin
By the time this issue of Virus Bulletin is published, there will be one less affiliate programme generating spam to clog up our inboxes.
GlavTorg.com was run by the people behind the prolific Glavmed/SpamIt operations which pushed out massive volumes of Canadian pharmacy spam until closing their doors in October 2010, claiming that increased attention on the business had made it impossible to continue. GlavTorg marketed sites selling cheap imitations of designer goods.
At the end of December 2011, GlavTorg affiliates were notified that the network was to be shut down and that they would not receive payment after 31 January. A message read:
'Dear partners, We would like to inform you that we have decided to close the trade direction replica handbags and clothing. The reasons for this decision and are associated with economic deterioration in the quality of products provided by our suppliers. We believe that any business should be to balance the interests of buyers and sellers, which has recently become disturbed.'
Researcher Brian Krebs suggests that the downfall of GlavTorg may partly have been due to brand owners taking action against those selling knock-offs of their products – in September, Chanel took legal action against several entities including one of GlavTorg’s primary merchandising sites.
Cisco and several other sources reported a decrease in global spam volumes immediately following SpamIt’s closure in October 2010. It remains to be seen whether the closure of GlavTorg will have a similar effect.
