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Spam Emails Skyrocketing, Reports Symantec

The Web security company Symantec stated that spam volumes had skyrocketed to comprise a huge 70% of total emails transmitted the past month, ascending from August's 69%.

Although Symantec found image and PDF supported spam lost popularity, sliding to merely 7% of total unsolicited emails, simple text spam found favor with the hackers.

The most popular spam messages were those marketing items and Internet services that each represented 26% and 19%. Fraudulent business schemes, pornographic emails, and cons comprised just about 10%, 7% and 3% respectively, even though these messages pose a bigger risk to users.

As per University of Toronto, Centre for Global eHealth Innovation, and Canada's University Health Network, about 73% of the health product spam analyzed was detected to begin in the US, whilst 16% arrived from China and five per cent sourced from Congo. Nearly one-third of spam emails promote medicinal drugs, natural cures, or other health-associated products.

Symantec alleged that by then spammers had preempted the latest market troubles in the America. spammers have not overlooked the insecurity in the housing sector. Of late, Symantec has been seeing a glut of spam e-mails attempting to exploit the speculativeness of the housing market. The spams vary from refinancing pacts to bids on homes to inquiring clients whether their "home equity" is being utilized or not.

BroadbandChoices.co.uk's Product Director, Michael Phillips, cautioned that Britain is tackling a credit problem like the one in US, with several individuals being rejected for credit and mortgages. The existing high rates of interest requires users to be especially cautious of any spam emails extending low-rate credit or mortgages, and not yield to lure by responding to these fake offers or phishing scams, reported Broadband on October 9, 2007.

Yet other study by Symantec indicates that about 90% of all messages conveyed from certain Asian countries are spam. The volume of spam originating from most regions is much bigger than the worldwide total of 61%.

The Philippines is the worst affected country with 88% spam, followed by South Korea, Thailand, Taiwan, and Vietnam with over 80% of outbound messages being spam.

Related article: Spam Scam Bags a Scottish Connection

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