US man faces decades in jail for 'sending out more than a million spam emails'

The indictment charges 36-year-old Michael Persaud with 10 counts of wire fraud, each of which is punishable by up to 20 years in prison

According to spam-tracking organisation Spamhaus, Persaud is the eighth worst spammer in the world (Getty)

A US man faces decades behind bars after being arrested for allegedly distributing over a million spam emails.

36-year-old Michael Persaud from Scottsdale, Arizona, has been indicted on federal fraud charges for using a technique known as ‘snowshoe spamming’ to send out the messages to people in the US and abroad.

The indictment charges Persaud with 10 counts of wire fraud, each of which is punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

Persaud stands accused of using multiple IP addresses and domains to transmit the emails over at least nine networks between 2012 and 2015.

According to the indictment, Persaud gained access to the networks by falsely promising to comply with their anti-spamming policies, before using fake names, such as Michael Prescott, Michael Pearson and Jeff Martinez, to contract with other networks whenever he was caught.

He allegedly used a California company called Impact Media LLC to send spam on behalf of sellers of various goods and services, earning a commission for each sale his emails generated.

Persaud, who is recognised as the eighth worst spammer in the world by spam-tracking organisation Spamhaus, pleaded not guilty and will be back in court on 21 February.