Spam has become such a prevalent problem that special regulations have been designed in an attempt to control it. Economies lose billions every year in lost productivity and management costs. Even without spam specific regulation, laws are already in effect that govern advertising and privacy in the United States. Additionally, many spammers are offering products, services, and opportunities that are illegal in their own right. Knowing what to report, and to whom to report it, is essential to stopping spammers.
In December of 2003, the United States Congress passed a law that made criminal any act that uses fraudulent or deceptive email practices. This is in addition to any other laws the content of the spam is violating. Spammers can face jail for up to five years and civil fines and penalties for the email counts alone. This has not seemed to deter spammers, however, since the databases used to track spam have shown a steady increase since that time. They rely on the difficulty involved in tracking them down. Over the summer of 2004, arrests were finally made. The Federal Government will arrest and prosecute spammers under this act, so report any fraudulent or deceptive spam that you receive.
The Federal Trade Commission is the organization that oversees all marketing and advertising in the United States. In response to the flood of spam, they developed a database in 1998 of all known spam email. This helps them compile statistics, track and identify certain types of spam, and look for spammers. Since its launch, the database has collected over 10 million submissions. All spam that you receive should be forwarded to uce@ftc.gov regardless of the content.
Investment offers and scams should be reported to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) at www.sec.gov. They have the authority to investigate and shut down any spammer who is in violation of US securities law. If you are not sure if the investment opportunity is illegal, submit the spam anyway. It may take professional investigation to uncover a fraudulent operation. If it is a bone fide licensed company, maybe unwanted legal attention will convince them to stop spamming.
Some spam will offer to sell you prescription medication without the need for a licensed physician's approval. This is illegal and the Food and Drug Administration will prosecute offenders. Forward the email to www.fda.gov and let them go to work. This also applies to animal drugs, medical devices, dietary supplements, and cosmetics. Any company selling these products and doing business in the United States falls under the jurisdiction of the FDA and must be approved to do so.
The Nigerian Advance Fee Fraud, or 4-1-9 scam, should be reported to the United States Secret Service at www.secretservice.gov. These scams are dangerous and responsible for defrauding many out of their entire life savings. When you receive spam asking for your bank account information or money in order to assist some politically involved member of a foreign nation, turn it over. Additionally, the Secret Service has jurisdiction over financial crimes like credit card fraud and identity theft.
Incredibly, you may receive spam offering products relating to child pornography. Unfortunately, the email itself will often contain pictures. If you are unsure or believe that anyone in those pictures could be a minor, report the spam to two agencies. Do not investigate the website yourself. Possession of any child pornography, even visiting those websites, is a criminal act. The first is the US Customs Service at 1-800-BE-ALERT. This agency has the ability to organize with multiple foreign governments arrests on child pornography rings that frees these children from sexual slavery. Secondly, contact the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-843-5678. They can compare these photos with their database of missing children. Your submission may be responsible for bringing a child home.
Heuristic Filters
Until 2002, most spam filters were Heuristic, or rule-based. Heuristic simply mea...
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Secret Addresses For Safe Browsing
Secret addresses are, well, secret. The idea is...
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Signature Based Filters
Signature-based filters compare incoming email with email known to ...
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What Is Spam
Spam is a common term used to define Unsolicited Commercial Email, or UCE. It is email that is sent en masse to large n...
what-is-spam.php
Recognizing Spam Scams
Most of us have heard of Pyramid schemes, also known a...
recognizing-spam-scams.php
Protect Your Email Address
Do not give your email address out willingly over the internet. ...
protect-your-email-address.php
What To Do When Spam Arrives
To begin with, do not respond to the spam - ever. There are usually two ways that spam recipients make this mistak...
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Mail Server Blacklists
A mail server is designated as having an open relay when mail is pr...
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Identifying Spam
Identifying Spam as soon as it occurs is the first step to preventing it from happening again. ...
identifying-spam.php