The NY Times reports that the largest spam gang on the Internet is being shut down, starting with their assets being frozen. Some key numbers shared in the article:
- This group makes $400,000 a month
- They send 10 billion spam emails per day
- This group, at one point, sent out 1/3rd of all spam
- 90% of all email people receive is spam
If these numbers are true, then:
- The group made 1/7500th of a cent for each email sent (the only cost-effective way had to be sent from unknowingly affected computers)
- Email users should expect a 33% drop in spam, and an 44% drop in overall incoming email volume.
I wish it were true, but I’m skeptical that we won’t see such drops. Unless the penalties are extremely harsh, other spammers will step in to get a piece of the newly available spam pie.