You may open your electronic mail and find information about how to buy medicine, cheap airline tickets, and books and, of course, computers and computer products．There may also be offers for investment deals, bank loans and special holidays．However, to many computer users, this use of electronic spam to sell products has become a major problem as it makes computer communication more difficult．
Many companies who want to send a great deal of advertising might use the services of a “spammer．” A spammer is a person or company that uses computers to send out millions of copies of the same sales information．Spammers find e-mail addresses from websites, news groups and “chat rooms” where people send messages to each other．
Most spam is sent by companies who are trying to get you to buy their products．Some of these are honest companies that offer good products or services for fair prices．These companies can offer their products for a cheaper price than you might find in a store．However, much of the spam on the Internet is sent by criminals who are trying to sell products that do not exist or offer services they will not provide．They are only interested in stealing your money．When you answer their spam you find you are expected to send them money and receive a gift．One country in Africa has become famous for the number of criminals who try every known trick to separate people from their money．