Users Buying Pirated Software from Spammers

Users are continuing to purchase products from spammers. With the cost of spamming so low - it only takes a few sales to make it profitable.

One of the best selling products being pitched is apparently pirated software. According to a recent study - 22% of U.K. internet users have purchased software via spam e-mail.

Sometimes the pirated software is delivered electronically with embedded trojan software. This lets spammers turn their customers systems into `zombies' which can be used to send more spam. Use of zombie systems can help bypass some techniques used by anti-spam email software.

According to a BSA spoke person, "Many online consumers don't consider the true motives of spammers. In addition to profiting from selling goods and services and driving click-through ad traffic, organized crime rings use spam to gain access to personal information."

Users who want to stop unwanted email from getting in their inboxes may want to consider a spam blocker program such as SpamButcher.

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