Civil Rights
Block on Trump's Asylum Ban Upheld by Supreme Court
Whenever you open your email inbox, you're flooded with messages that you never signed up for. Maybe there's some company that's hawking some kitschy t-shirts. Or, maybe there's some email that claims they can sell you "v1agra" over the web. Spam is annoying. That may be why you might wonder if sending spam is a crime -- or if there are anti-spam laws out there to protect you.
There are. But most of the time, sending spam itself isn't a crime punishable by jail time.
But there are times when a spam message could amount to a violation of criminal law.
Have you ever received a spam message that asks for your bank account information -- or requests that you wire money? If you have, that message may have been fraudulent. Fraud is a crime. It constitutes the intentional misrepresentation or false statement to gain money or property.
Spam fraud is a relatively common occurrence. And you should watch out for these emails hitting your inbox. They can take many different forms. Some popular schemes include fraud relating to raising money post-Hurricane Katrina, African-based investment schemes, and fraud concerning the selling of drugs or other medical devices.
Sometimes the emails you get are also racy -- in an illegal way. Child pornography is against federal law. And there are times where sometimes spam emails cross the line. If the email depicts children under a certain age in explicit images, it may be criminal.
Many of the other types of spam, such as sending emails about legitimate businesses and products, are usually not a crime. Though, sometimes emails may violate federal and state civil laws. But know that there are anti-spam laws out there that are meant to protect consumers. For more information and to report spam emails, you should consider contacting the FTC and filing a complaint.
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