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I figured it was something like this....
BBC reports a study of stock spammers. The technique is to buy some low priced "penny" stock, then spam the world with its virtues as an investment. Enough people will be gulled in to raise the price for a day or two, and the day after the spam the spammer sells of his shares. The study indicates the average stock spammer would get a return of about 5%, and the average victim lose about 8%.
The sidebar has links to other BBC stories on spam. About 40% originate in Asia, with China about equalling US as a source. Virgina just convicted a spammer under its state law against using forged email addresses, and the jury recommended nine years, hurrah! The guy had made about $24 million off spamming on stocks and low mortgage rates.