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Sophos security research Dmitry Samosseiko recently published research into the economics of spam email. One of the biggest spamming groups is the Russian Partnerka. Dmitry Samosseiko was able to examine one of the tens of thousands of online Canadian pharmacy websites. His research proves one of the main reason spam is still around is because spam work.

Spam is, of course, not the potted meat but the unsolicited bulk advertising found in email, message board, blog posts, instant messanging programs, social networking sites, and on any other internet related activity. To make it harder to track and to increase the amount of spam, spam is rarely carried out by a person directly anymore. One of our earlier blog posts pointed out how bad spam really is. Somewhere between 90% to 97% of email is now spam. Spammers quite often infect computers with malware to send out spam in various forms. In the case of Partnerka, they infect both Windows and Macs.

Dmitry Samosseiko was able to discover that many of the Canadian pharmacy websites are made from templates. The result is a fake online pharmacy can be set up quickly. This makes it hard to stifle their income because if you shut down one site, two can pop up quickly. Dmitry Samosseiko also discovered the average order for drugs was $200. The commision to spammers is as high as 40%. Dmitry Samosseiko's research revealed that spammers make about $1600 per day.

Think about this. The group makes $1600 per day per Canadian pharamacy website under their influence. The Partnerka easily make tens of thousands of dollars per day. And all they have to do is make a few cheap Canadian pharmacy websites and spend a little time make new spam malware to stay ahead of antivirus and antimalware detection programs. There is little overhead and large payments. That is why spam is everywhere. The money is just too good.

It cannot be stated enough, don't ever respond to any spam message. No exception. If everyone did that, then spam would disappear and quickly. And tell everyone you know to just say no to spam.

References:

• The partnerka - what is it, and why should you care?
• Dmitry Samosseiko's blog
• Dodgy Pharma Spam Economics (Caution: strong language in the title)