Spammers unleash January email flood

Spam figures for January have bucked the seasonal trend, according to Symantec.

The security firm's State of Spam report found that January spam levels were almost identical to December's, accounting for 78.5 per cent of all email traffic during the month.

"While logic would dictate that spam levels would subside after the holidays, they have continued to soar," said the report.

Symantec estimated that 28 per cent of the spam emails collected were for consumer products such as electronic devices and clothing. An additional 23 per cent were for internet services and software.

Financial scams accounted for 10 per cent of spam, while fraud/phishing emails accounted for six per cent.

Europe continued to expand its lead over the US as the source of spam emails during January.

"The percentage of spam that claimed to originate from Europe is now significantly greater than from North America," said the report.

"Approximately 44 per cent of all spam email now claims to originate from Europe compared to 35.1 per cent from North America."

Symantec warned that the current wave of attacks is targeting seasonal events such as Valentine's Day and the US tax deadline.