Survey finds Spam tolerance growing

April 13, 2005 A survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project found that 28% of users with a personal email account say they receive more spam than they used to, while 22% say the amount has decreased.

53% of the users surveyed said that spam has made them trust e-mail less; this is down from 62% last year. 22% (down from 29% last year) report that they use e-mail less because of spam.

Spam however is becoming more accepted. 77% of users last year reported spam has made being online unpleasant, this year the number falls to 67%. Users also reported that pornographic spam is down.

In contrast, “phishing” (email fraudulently requesting personal financial information) is up. 35% of users say they have received a phishing attempt, and 2% have provided the requested information to phishers.

The Pew Internet & American Life Project is a non-profit research centre that produces reports that study the social effects of the Internet.