Is trafficbuyer@gmail.com Bryan Hunter of Modena, Inc?

We have seen quite a lot of the domain registrant trafficbuyer@gmail.com lately [1] [2] [3] and it would be fair to say that this email address has been connected with malware domains for a few months [4] [5].

Domains operated by trafficbuyer@gmail.com appear to be part of the routing mechanism to bad sites, but there's no indication of who the email address actually belongs to. Is it an ad network, or is it the bad guys themselves.. and if it's an ad network, why are they hiding their name?

This post at Spyware Sucks gave a clue. There are several domains which are interesting because they have changed hands during their lifetime from a firm called Modena Inc (modenainc.com) owned by one Bryan Hunter of Oregon and are now in the hands of "trafficbuyer".

• banner0609.com
  
• banner0709.com [6] [7] [8]
  
• banner07092.com
• banner08091.com
  
• banner08092.com [9]
• banner08093.com [10]
• bannersulike.com [11] [12] [13]
  
• extrabanner.com [14]
  
• islandbanner.com
• foobanner.com
• greenlightbanner.com [15] [16]
  
• more-banners.com [17] [18] [19] [20]
  
• paperbanner.com
  
• trendbanner.com [21]
  
• yellowlinebanner.com [22] [23]
  
• zoombanner.com [24]

In July 2009, these domains were registered to:

Manager, Domain domains@modenainc.com
Modena Inc.
921 SW Washington ST
Suite 228
Portland, Oregon 97205
United States
(503) 241-1091 Fax --

By September 2009 they had all changed to:

Owner, Domain trafficbuyer@gmail.com
15156 SW 5th
Scottsdale, Arizona 85260
United States
+1.8005551212 Fax --

So, who are Modena Inc of Oregon? According to the State of Oregon, the two key people here are Bryan Hunter and Andrew Vilcauskas, although Mr Hunter's name is most often associated with Modena, Inc. The official status for Modena, Inc shows "Administrative Dissolution" which means that the state dissolved the company for non-filing of paperwork.. this seems to be a common issue. If we look at businesses related to Bryan Hunter then we see:

Big Truck Autobody (dissolved, failed to renew in 2004)
CreditYes, Inc (administrative dissolution in 2008, though still trading at CreditYes.com)
Diminished Value, Inc (filings overdue as of November 2009, trading at DiminishedValue.com)
ExitExchange Corporation (still active, although check the rating at WOT for ExitExchange.com or simple Google it)
Modena Homes, Inc (administrative dissolution in 2008)
Modena, Inc (administrative dissolution in 2009)
Modena, Inc (older incorporation, administrative dissolution in 2004)
Pro Web Design LLC (administrative dissolution in 2004)
Wind Song Creek Estates LLC (administrative dissolution in 2009)

Now, given the WHOIS history of these domains we would suggest that either Bryan Hunter is trafficbuyer@gmail.com or he sold the domains on to this person. If they are the same person, then perhaps he would like to review his business relationships and clean them up...