Small Business Website Content Marketing Blog

I think spam is a fascinating subject….in fact, I have an email folder where I collect my favorite spam emails.  I particularly enjoy collecting ones that have lost their true intention through poorly written English.

Truly malicious spams are sent to your inbox for two main reasons:

1. To gain control of your computer
2. To get your credit card number

So, most spams that have a computer virus associated with them are sent to you with the intention of taking control of your computer, and turning it into a zombie.  As a zombie, your computer become the unwilling participant in a much grander scheme.  Once a spammer has secured a substantial network of zombie computers (known as a botnet), they can use their collective power to attack specific web targets.  By bombarding a web server with requests from each computer within a zombie network, a spammer can bring down significant websites.  This type of activity is known as a distributed denial of service, or DDoS, attack.

The other common intention behind a spam email is fraud:  the spammer simply wants your credit card.  There are two basic types of emails designed to steal your credit card number; phishing and spoofing.  A phishing scam can take many forms, but the most common are “Nigerian-style” messages and product messages.  “Nigerian-style” scam messages offer the recipient an opportunity to make money in exchange for their credit card or banking information.  The phishing scams might look like a legitimate service provider or store.  The service provider phishing scams are the ones that might ask you to reset your banking password, or update your Ebay account.  On the other hand,  product phishing messages typically appear to sell pharmaceuticals, watches, hand bags, foreign brides, and adult items.  In reality, nothing is for sale; the sites are just designed to capture your payment information.

Once a spammer has acquired your personal information, there are three things they’ll do with it:

1. Steal your identity
2. Take your money
3. Sell your information to someone else

Ok, so identity theft doesn’t mean there is someone out there with a wig on, literally pretending to be you.  When your identity is stolen, the thief uses your good credit score to secure loans for goods, and leave you hanging with the bill.  In really bad cases, your credit can be permanently damaged.

When spammers take your money, they do so very cleverly.  They’ll charge your credit card a little bit each month, under an unassuming name, with the hopes that you won’t notice a random, small purchase.  These guys are clever!  Not only will they vary the name of the charge, they’ll vary the amount too.  This makes it harder to catch them or dispute the charges.   Think about it.  If a spammer has 1,000 credit card numbers on file, they can charge them each an average of $10 per month and walk away with $120,000 per year!

Finally, spammers can sell your personal information on the black market for a quick profit.  This option is often the most attractive because it requires little or no technical expertise, and is typically he most difficult for prosecutors to bust.