Spam e-mails are unsolicited messages sent in bulk. They are delivered to the recipients unsolicited and often contain harassing or advertising content.
The term “spam” was originally a compound brand name for canned meat (SPiced hAM). However, the term only became a synonym for junk mail through a sketch in the English comedy series “Monty Python’s Flying Circus”, in which the term “spam” occurred more than 120 times within two minutes).
While spam accounted for around 90% off all e-mail messages in 2010, the figure has remained stable at around 45% for years now a . However, this still means that almost every second e-mail is a spam message and poses a threat.
Spammers obtain legitimate e-mail distribution lists or use web scraping to collect public e-mail addresses. Alternatively, they create them by combining names and domains such as firstname.lastname@gmail.com.
Besides sending unsolicited commercial e-mails to a few or even just a single recipient, there is also the unsolicited mass e-mail. This is sent to a much larger number of recipients and is often a marketing campaign.
Phishing e-mails, in which criminals use fake identities to try to obtain secret data, are particularly prevalent. Scam e-mails (advance-fee fraud) usually promise a quick way to get rich quickly if a comparatively small amount is paid in advance. And let’s not forget e-mails containing malicious software, chain letters, and hoaxes (hoax reports), which clog up electronic mailboxes worldwide.
Additionally, a high economic damage arises because sorting and reading takes up time and work. Spam filters have to be purchased and maintained, and Internet service providers typically do not charge by time, but by the amount of data transferred.
