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Spammer: It's No Longer Easy Money

Mike is a small-time spammer with big-time problems. Sending junk e-mail, he says, isn't paying the bills the way it used to because of better spam filters. In addition, arrest is a constant threat as authorities get more aggressive in enforcing antispam laws.

So Mike is trying to change with the times: Today he says he makes $500 a week in the spam trade by selling lists of IP addresses of compromised computers, sometimes called zombie PCs, which the list buyers use to send spam. The money isn't as good as it was when he did the mailings himself, but Mike believes that this way, he's less likely to get caught.

PC World found Mike through a Web site where spammers meet and share tips. He agreed to an interview on the condition that his real name be withheld.

Q: Do you think what you do is wrong?

A: I don't care what people think.

Q: Why don't you send bulk e-mail legally? The CAN-SPAM [Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing] Act allows you to.

A: Playing by the rules is bad for business. The only way spammers can sneak by an ISP's antispam filter these days is by tricking them, and the techniques to trick antispam filters are illegal, according to CAN-SPAM. So if you want to be sure you don't end up in a court, don't let them find you.

Q: Are antispam laws and better filters succeeding?

A: Yes, they are. Today, big ISPs block e-mail from suspicious sources. They filter out spam based on e-mail addresses, words, links in the e-mail, pictures, or anything. But the better filters get, the more determined we will get. It's not as if spammers really want to break the law. It's just that we are looking for any edge possible to get past the filter.

Q: So why are you still involved in the spam business at all, if it's becoming both riskier and less profitable?

A: For me, it's what I know how to do. And I just would hate to give up. It's like admitting defeat.

Q: How does the future of spamming look to you?

A: Not good. The capital investment in computers and software required to make it worth the risk is enormous. A lot of people younger than me are spamming. But for a lot of people like myself, it's no longer easy money. We are throwing in the towel.

Q: So you are seeing a changing of the spam guard, so to speak?

A: Spammers today are diverse. They work with adware; they control botnets of computers; they are virus writers. Today's spammers don't just want to sell you Viagra; they want to trick you into handing over your credit card number, or infect your system and turn it into a zombie.

Q: Will spam ever go away?

A: Spam will never go away. If nobody was really interested in spam and people never bought anything that was advertised to them, spam would go away. That's simply not the case.