Can You Go To Jail For Sending Spam Email?

Spam scammers clog up the internet with unsolicited, unwanted bulk emails. While it may seem like the kind of nuisance that likely goes unpunished, you might be surprised to know that there are actual criminal penalties for spammers.

Fines, jail time and seized assets are a few of the heavy punishments that can be leveraged against spammers and scammers for various types of email spam and fraud. The Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography And Marketing Act of 2003 (CAN-SPAM) is a federal law that specifically addresses unsolicited spam and bulk electronic communication.

This law governs commercial email, and it also addresses the consumer's right to opt-out of unsolicited communication. The CAN-SPAM act outlines harsh punishment standards for any violations of this federal law. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is responsible for enforcing the CAN-SPAM Act.

Phishing

Phishing is a popular form of fraud in which the attacker poses as a reputable company, such as Gmail, Twitter, or Ebay, and attempts to gain access to private information such as user logins, passwords or banking information.

Click fraud

Click fraud is a form of Pay-Per-Click (PPC) fraud that involves repeatedly clicking the advertisements on a given web page in an attempt to drain revenue from an advertising company or to fraudulently make money for a website. In these types of schemes, malicious or fraudulent clicks are generated en masse.

Craigslist fraud

Craigslist fraud is a type of fraud that takes place on Craigslist on which a scammed usually pays for an item for sale with a fake check or other invalid currency via the internet. The best way to detect this type of fraud is to beware of non-local buyers that want to purchase the item for sale without seeing it, and they do not want to pay in cash.

419 scams

419 scams are a type of fraud that requires the advanced payment of a fee prior to receiving a product or larger sum of money. 419 scams are the most popular type of internet fraud. For example, the Nigerian Prince scam is a widely recognized type of 419 fraud.

Identity theft

Victims of online or email identity theft are often also victims of phishing scams. In general, when identity theft takes place over the internet, it is usually categorized with phishing scams. It is important to report cases of phishing and identity theft to the Fair Trade Commission (FTC).

It's important to remember that there are serious consequences for these types of crimes. While some people are becoming more aware of these scams, there are plenty of others who continue to fall victim.