In the days before Christmas the amount of spam e-mail being sent and received looks set to soar as marketing machines and e-greetings firms go into seasonal overdrive. As well as being inundated with the perennial spam emails about scams . . .

In the days before Christmas the amount of spam e-mail being sent and received looks set to soar as marketing machines and e-greetings firms go into seasonal overdrive. As well as being inundated with the perennial spam emails about scams and financial services, computer users are also facing the added inbox burden brought about by Christmas.

Alarmingly, as we approach Christmas 2002, spam-filtering firm Brightmail has released figures which show spam now accounts for 40 percent of all e-mail. In the run-up to Christmas 2001, this figure was a comparatively meager 8 percent, highlighting the extent of the problem this time around.

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