Government and business urged to tackle spam

Government and business urged to tackle spam

The Office of Fair Trading has urged government and businesses to work together and across borders to tackle spam.

The call was made at a summit of international spam enforcement agencies in London on Thursday.

The summit, hosted by the OFT and the European Commission Contact Network of Spam Enforcement Authorities, brought together over 60 public and private sector agencies from over 27 countries to promote cross-border cooperation on spam and spam-related problems, such as on-line fraud and computer viruses.

All the agencies have signed the London Action Plan, which was launched last year in order to develop international cooperation and coordination on spam and spam-related problems.

The conference included sessions on effective collection of spam data by enforcement agencies; the authentication of email; multi-country spam enforcement and investigative assistance across borders; and the development of an efficient international case referral system.

Bulk unsolicited electronic messages account for over 66% of all e-mail traffic on the Internet – equivalent to 2 out of 3 emails. Around 25.5 million spam messages were sent in 2004 alone.

Spam e-mail is frequently linked to fraudulent, deceptive or pornographic commercial activities. It is also estimated that over 80% of spam received by UK Internet users originates from overseas.

The OFT has a number of tips to avoid spam e-mails. These are:

• use a spam filter – often available with your email package
• if you do not know who the email is from – delete it
• do not respond to an unsolicited email by giving anyone your bank or credit card details
• do not click on the adverts in spam emails – if you do, you may download a virus
• protect your email address – never share it with people you don’t know on the Internet

John Fingleton, OFT Chief Executive, said: “Spam continues to be a major international problem, clogging networks and reducing consumer confidence in the Internet marketplace.

“The London Action Plan is fast proving its value as a unique partnership that brings together different government agencies and business to combat spam. The interaction of business and government must go further.”

(KMcA/GB)