How Spammers Work

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When this is complete, it will contain descriptions of different types of spam you may see.

How Spam is Sent

Spam is typically sent via one of the following types of connections:

A throwaway account, or cheap dial-up account, at a major internet service provider. Such accounts are frequently obtained fraudulently by the spammer, and in any account cost little to set up. They provide little revenue for the ISP, and the ISP will normally close them quickly when notified that they are being used to send spam.
A broadband, or high-volume, account through a major internet service provider. Such accounts cost more to set up and provide more revenue for the ISP, and thus ISPs are therefore sometimes more reluctant to shut them down than dial-up accounts.
A broadband account belonging to an innocent third-party whose computer has been taken over by a trojan, a program that allows the spammer to use the computer without the owner's knowledge or consent. Spam through "trojaned" computers is a growing problem. As of early 2004, most ISPs have not yet learned how to respond properly to a complaint about a customer's computer that has a trojan running on it.