The following is part of a message posted to my ISP's announce NG. I found it interesting, specifically the claim that there are 180 entities creating nearly all the spam... it would explain the recurrence of certain seemingly unlikely patterns across the board, but is still hard to credit even with that in mind.
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Subject: Unsolicited Commercial / Bulk Email Spam Newsgroups: demon.announce From: Malcolm S. Muir <Malcolm@demon.net> Reply-To: helpdesk@demon.net Date: Fri, 30 May 2003 10:41:48 +0100 Message-ID: <zMof+XAcdy1+EwvH@demon.net>
The following is a summary of advice we have available on our web site for customers having trouble with unsolicited email.
The full text can be found at:
http://www.demon.net/helpdesk/spam
[snip] Where does UCE come from?
Some 'spam' is sent by companies that are new to the Internet
and do not understand how unwelcome this material is. However
recent reports suggest that 90% of all the material currently
being sent originates from as few as 180 individuals or 'spam
gangs'. These groups make a business out of promoting unsavoury
(and sometimes illegal) material. They hide the true origin of
the material by relaying their email via insecure mail systems
and machines. Although in the past they have targeted incorrectly
configured machines at ISPs and large companies, they now
regularly exploit end-user ('customer') machines.
[snip]Malcolm Muir Demon Internet
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Andrew. -- Andrew Shore.