Purchasers of the $89 “LoverSpy” software would send their
target – a colleague, lover or child – a seemingly harmless
electronic greeting card. When opened, the card added software to
the targeted computer that would record email messages, chat room
conversations, passwords and any other computer activity.
Such software is prohibited in the US under federal wiretapping
laws and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. In the UK its use would
be an offence under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act of
2000, better known as RIPA.
The firm behind LoverSpy was closed down in October 2003, but
prosecutors have now obtained an indictment against the software’s
creator, Carlos Enrique Perez-Melara, 25. His whereabouts remain
unknown.
He is charged with 35 counts of “manufacturing, sending and
advertising a surreptitious interception device and unauthorised
access to protected computers”, according to the Associated
Press.
Four purchasers of the software – John J Gannito, 49, Kevin
Powell, 54, Cheryl Ann Young, 40, and Laura Selway, 34 – have also
been charged by San Diego prosecutors, according to reports.
As many as 1,000 copies of the software are reputed to have been
sold by Perez-Melara and investigations are continuing.
