Spam—unwanted junk email—has been a problem since the dawn of the Internet. New technologies and legislation have reduced the amount that arrives in your inbox, but spam is actually now more prevalent, and dangerous, than ever.

The spam flood

Symantec closely monitors spam traffic to help improve service to Symantec customers and to guide future product development. Our State of Spam 2008 survey found:

• Spam, as a proportion of all email, rose last year from 68 percent to nearly 80 percent.
• Most spam originates in Europe (45 percent) and North America (35 percent).

Varieties of spam

Based on traffic passing through the Symantec Probe Network™, spam can be broken down as follows:

• Scams (10 percent)—Deceptive strategies such as pyramid schemes, chain letters, the Nigerian 419 scam, or a phony site for charity or political contributions
• Financial (14 percent)—Financial products or services such as stocks, business opportunities, credit reports, real estate, loans, and so forth
• Adult (6 percent)—Porn, personal ads, relationship advice, and other sex-related products or services
• Health (5 percent). Dubious products and services such as pharmaceuticals, diets, medical treatments, or herbal remedies
• General goods and services (30 percent)—Devices, investigation services, clothing, makeup, and so on
• Fraud (6 percent)—Email that falsely claims to be from a well-known company—usually to trick users into revealing account numbers and passwords; uses subject lines such as “account notification,” “credit card verification,” or “billing update”
• Leisure (6 percent)—Prizes or discounts for leisure activities such as vacations or online gambling
• Internet (20 percent)—Internet or computer-related goods and services such as antispam and antispyware solutions, web hosting, and web design

New come-ons

Spammers are always looking for new angles. Here are a few that Symantec has found in recent months:

• Holiday spam—Seasonally themed spam has always been popular, and Symantec observed more than 93 million holiday-related spam messages in December 2007.
• Fake restitution—Spammers falsely promise spam victims a restitution of US$100,000.
• Rising gas prices—An email message invites recipients to download a tool that shows which gas stations are fraudulently overcharging. Instead, they download a Trojan horse virus.
• Presidential polling—Email messages promise gift cards in exchange for opinions and then steal personal information.

Conclusion

Despite the enormous amount of spam that never reaches your inbox, spam is still a threat to every email user. Junk email may sometimes be legitimate, but any offer should be approached with a great deal of caution.

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