A man has been charged with extortion for threatening to sending millions of spam e-mails and social networking messages maligning a large life insurance company.

"Anthony Digati, 52, of Chino, California, was arrested and charged with a single felony count of extortion through interstate communications, according to federal prosecutors in Manhattan," writes The Register's Dan Goodin. "In a series of e-mails and web postings, he allegedly warned employees, executives and a board member of the insurance company their reputation would be ruined if his demand for $198,303.88 wasn't met."

"According to prosecutors, Digati threatened to spam more than 6 million people with links to a website that was highly critical of the various financial products offered by the insurance company," Goodin writes. "Digati also allegedly described himself as a 'huge social networker' who would use his contacts to send more than 200,000 people messages 'slamming your integrity and directing them to this website within days.'"

Click here to read the article at The Register.