The Phenomenon of Unsolicited E-mails with Attachments

Abstract

Unsolicited e-mails became prevalent with the growing penetration of computer networks. The senders of unsolicited e-mails make every effort to get the attention of the recipient. The goal is for their messages and/or attachments to be opened. The victimization of recipients of unsolicited messages with attachments happens without the recipients actually accessing their e-mail accounts. The victimization-conspiracy model happens when the messages include contents offering products or services that need illegal involvement of the recipients. The recipients of messages with such offers are first victimized by the unsolicited messages; and if they accept the illegal services or purchase the illegal products, they are likely to become the co-conspirators of the senders. The senders and the recipient would reach an illegal double win effect. The unsolicited messages with attachments provide e-mail users many different options. The majority of messages in this study, however, offered recipients two alternatives; to conspire in tax evasion, or to be damaged by viruses.