In the latest on the ongoing battle between ISPs and spammers, AOL reportedly is planning on sending in bulldozers to dig for gold and platinum it believes a spammer buried on his parents property in order to evade seizure in a lawsuit.

AOL last year won a $12.8 million judgment against Davis Wolfgang Hawke for sending millions of illegal emails to its customers. But Hawke, whose enterprise at one time took in a reported $600,000 a month, disappeared, leaving the ISP empty-handed. AOL has since uncovered several receipts for large purchases of gold and platinum bullion made by Hawke, and gotten a judge's permission to search the two-acre Massachusetts property where it believes Hawke buried his ill-gotten gains with a shovel.

Hawke's family said it will fight AOL's plans in court. In the meantime, if you are contacted via email by someone in a far-off land purporting to be in urgent need of your help in retrieving a cache of treasure hidden in the U.S., and promising you a generous share of the fortune, check the signature. If it's signed Davis Hawke, it just might be genuine <grin>.