High Jack
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Many spammers have found ways to profit from sending unsolicited e-mail without selling a single product, using a range of tactics from simple banner ads to outright deception and identity theft.
It has long been thought that spammers made money only because people bought the products advertised in e-mails, like pornography or weight-loss plans. Now antispam advocates are warning consumers against even replying to spam or going to sites advertised in e-mail, because it could put more money in spammers' pockets.
"I really don't believe [spam] is about selling things," said Joe St. Sauver, a director at the Computing Center at the University of Oregon, who has worked with the state attorney general to craft antispam legislation. "It'd be nice if that were true, but that's not the case anymore."
Online industry observers say many spammers make money as long as people visit their Web sites. In such cases, spammers get revenue from banner advertisements displayed on those sites. Web site operators receive a fee from the advertiser for every user that visits the site, and often use unsolicited e-mail ads to attract Web users there. The recipient of the e-mail does not need to register at the site or pay any money.
Some spammers also use banner ads on Web sites designed to allow people to opt out of future e-mails. For instance, a spammer may include in an e-mail a link titled "Click Here to Opt Out of Future E-mails." But most often the opt-out requests are not honored and spammers simply lure e-mail recipients there to collect banner ad revenue, Mr. St. Sauver and others said.
Spam is generally considered any unsolicited commercial e-mail. Most of it is either deceptive, pornographic, or both, and costs businesses billions of dollars a year in services and lost productivity. |
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