Spam - the scourge of every e-mail inbox - celebrates its 30th=20 anniversary this weekend. The first recognisable e-mail marketing message was sent on 3 May, 1978=20 to 400 people on behalf of DEC - a now-defunct computer-maker. The message was sent via Arpanet - the internet's forerunner - and won=20 its sender much criticism from recipients. Thirty years on, spam has grown into an underground industry that sends=20 out billions of messages every day. Statistics gathered by the FBI suggest that 75% of net scams snare=20 people through junk e-mail. In 2007 these cons netted criminals more=20 than $239m (=A3121m). Statistics suggest that more than 80%-85% of all e-mail is spam or junk=20 and more than 100 billion spam messages are sent every day. The majority of these messages are being sent via hijacked home=20 computers that have been compromised by a computer virus. More here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7380788.stm --=20 Regards, John Durham <http://modecideas.com/contact.html?sig> ICQ number 497166248 Fax/Phone 64 4 5286786 Award winning web site at http://modecideas.com?sig Terms of trade at http://modecideas.com/lvl22.html?sig Order my novel (RETURN) at http://stores.lulu.com/store.php?fAcctID=3D138= 2737 PC-HELPERS list subscribe/unsub at http://modecideas.com/discuss.htm?sig Good advice is like good paint- it only works if applied. -- -------list-services-below----------- Regards, John Durham (list moderator) <http://modecideas.com/contact.html?sig> Freelists login at //www.freelists.org/cgi-bin/lsg2.cgi List archives at //www.freelists.org/archives/pchelpers PC-HELPERS list subscribe/unsub at http://modecideas.com/discuss.htm?sig Latest news live feeds at http://modecideas.com/indexhomenews.htm?sig Good advice is like good paint- it only works if applied.