The Government cares!

There are several governmental agencies that can and do take action against spammers as well as other Internet criminals (fraud, credit card or identity theft, etc.)

• uce@ftc.gov - I believe you can forward any spams here. They're sorted into a database so the Federal Trade Commission can monitor trends and see the "larger picture". This won't get immediate action taken, but it may help get a spammer shut down or sent to jail a year from now. More info at their website and on-line complaint form. An article about how the FTC uses this data is here.



• Also, email pyramid schemes to pyramid@ftc.gov



• enforcement@sec.gov - Forward all stock-related scams to the Securities and Exchange Commission. I always include the full headers to help them track down the criminal who's trying a "pump and dump" or other stock-related scheme.



• The Internal Revenue Service takes tax fraud and avoidance very seriously. They have a site here.



• The United States Postal Inspection Service is always interested in chain letters, pyramid schemes, or other illegal scams that involve US Postal addresses. Also, you can forward such spams to fraud@uspis.gov



• If you receive one of the "Nigerian bank" fraudulent emails (someone claimes to have millions of dollars in a bank and they need your help and, suspiciously enough, some of your money, to get it and then they'll split it with you), report it to 419.fcd@usss.treas.gov



• The Food and Drug Administration is interested in health-related spams, like "herbal viagra", "enlarge your penis", "lose weight", etc. The addresses I have for them are:
  
  
  • otcfraud@cder.fda.gov
  • webcomplaints@ora.fda.gov
  • webmail@oc.fda.gov
  
  
  
• State Attorney General offices