When Marc Daniels signs onto AOL these days, he hardly ever sees any spam in his e-mail box. “It has been a real blessing to me,” he says.

Marc now has something else to be grateful for. Namely, $85,000 in gold bullion and cash, along with a fully-loaded Hummer H2, all seized by AOL from a spammer who used to prey on AOL members. AOL members who used the "Report Spam" button were instrumental in tracking down and successfully suing the spammer.

The East Haddam, Conn., resident was the grand prize-winner of the AOL Spammer’s Gold Sweepstakes, which drew more than one million entrants. He and his wife, Laura, took possession of the spammer’s loot at a ceremony that was held on Thursday, September 8 at the AOL headquarters in Dulles, Virginia. Marc, a 53-year-old former fabricator and welder, says the money will go to fund their retirement and pay off some bills. As for the Hummer, well, Laura says her two boys -- ages 27 and 24 -- will fight over it. But she has already settled the matter -- she’s claimed the Hummer as her own. "I am so excited to be the winner because I feel like I helped catch this spammer by clicking on the ‘Report Spam’ button,“ Daniels said. “I’m glad AOL is doing everything it can to punish the spammers, and that it is cutting the amount of spam I and other AOL members get in our e-mail boxes.” The use of the 'Report Spam' button has played a big role in cutting the spam that reaches members' mailboxes by 85 percent. Meanwhile, Marc and Laura plan to continue to hit the “Report Spam” button on AOL Mail. That is, if they ever get any spam to report.