Spam is the term now generally used to refer to unsolicited electronic messages, usually transmitted to a large number of recipients. They usually, but not necessarily, have a commercial focus, promoting or selling products or services; and they share one or more of the following characteristics:

• They are sent in an untargeted and indiscriminate manner, often by automated means
• They include or promote illegal or offensive content
• Their purpose is fraudulent or otherwise deceptive
• They collect or use personal information in breach of the Privacy Act 1988 National Privacy Principles (NPPs)
• They are sent in a manner that disguises the originator
• They do not offer a valid and functional address to which recipients may send messages opting out of receiving further unsolicited messages.

How do spammers get my email address?

The fact that a spammer is using your email address does not necessarily mean they have 'hacked' your account or computer - the complexity of spam is now staggering as spammers use techniques such as robot software that trawls Internet sites looking to harvest email addresses, malicious code that attempts to gain email addresses from personal computers and illegal databases of email addresses sold openly on the Internet.

The three main ways spammers can get your address are:

1. Netbots (highly automated software known as robots) undertaken harvest style missions where they can scan any Web site on the Internet for the at symbol (@) anywhere in the text. The robot automatically pulls your Email address if it is listed on any site. After the robot's finished pulling Email addresses, spammers have a huge list of addresses to create a mailing list from.
2. Scanning IRC and Chatrooms, Usenet, forum postings and mail lists is another way your Email address is collected and compiled into a mailing list.
3. Spammers buy lists from other spammers and cyber criminals. If someone's used one of the ways above to collect Email addresses, they now have an extensive list of Email addresses and are more than happy to share that list with paying spammers. The list with your Email address on it can be sold, sold and re-sold, flooding your inbox with hundreds or even thousands of unsolicted Emails.

Updated: 02 February 2009