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NOTE: All identifying data or language of a strong sexual graphic nature as well as obscene language have been removed from each example used on this page

Email remains one of the most used features on the Internet – a fact that has not escaped the watchful eye of many businesses (both legitimate and illegitimate alike). Certainly, one of the largest growing concerns is the proliferation of “junk” mail. Junk mail is the Internets equivalent of a commercial on television. However, because of the vastness of the Internet and the various world-wide governments’ inability to adequately police it a large number of advertisements with unsupported claims find their way into the mailboxes of everyone the world over. This is also true of those businesses which deal in pornography. And like most businesses, there are legitimate and illegal pornographic and fetish sites which periodically advertise themselves using junk mail also known as “Spam”)

Within the context of the mission of the Child Abuse Unit, the subject of concern is strictly the use of email and its attempt to solicit pornographic materials to children. It is not uncommon to find mailings from such well known pornographic magazines as Playboy or Penthouse. However, there is also the presence of more deviant sexual ideals such as those dealing with animals, necrophilia and pedophilia to name a few. There is not a distinction of age where an email box is concerned. How email addresses are obtained is, itself, a matter of question as well. There are those businesses that purchase bulk email addresses from sites that are visited and with the intrusion of “cookies” from various sites people become unaware that their personal email address has been given out.

The above example is the email box belonging to a 13 year old girl. As you can see, there are various sorts of emails that are not suitable for a 13 year old to have received. It should be noted as well that even though the subject line of an email might read a particular headline, often enough, the enclosed text has no relation and can be of a sexual nature.

Pay special attention to the email highlighted in blue above. It advertises Norton System Works in it’s headline – spelled incorrectly. Norton System Works is a set of useful computer utilities that are offered in a software package. Their expressed purpose is of computer maintenance. As you will see in illustrated in the next example, what is written in the headlines can sometimes merely be a deception in order to get someone to “open” the email.

Upon gazing at this email, the graphic shows that, in conjunction with the picture shown above it, indeed the heading of the email “NortonSystemWrks” was not only misleading but completely false. Further examination would reveal that the actual purpose of the email was to advertise a pornographic site. Also of note, in the "TO" field of the email there should have been the actual email address of the receiver, in this case a 13 year old girl. However, the email address in that field is one entirely different – a method that less scrupulous spammers use to get around present day attempts to limit the reaches of junk email. Also, it is not uncommon for an email to have included a pornographic picture as an inducement.