Central Scotland Police

Unsolicited emails

Central Scotland Police receive a number of inquiries about unsolicited e-mails, known as SPAM messages, which contain indecent or pornographic images.

What is 'spam' mail?

Unsolicited email, sometimes referred to as 'spam' or 'unsolicited commercial email' (UCE), is electronic mail which is unwarranted and sent for the purpose of selling the recipient goods or services. It is most often used for multi-level marketing schemes, get-rich-quick schemes, and work-at-home schemes or for questionable products or pornography.

Several years ago 'spammers' developed software that could lift all the email addresses from web pages. The software is similar to that used by search engines to index websites.

Automated 'robots' follow links from one website to another and trawl pages looking for any text that contain the @ symbol. These are assumed to be email addresses and are taken for later use in mass e-mailing.

Why is it a problem?

In the UK you still have to pay to connect to the Internet, so you pay to download email that is irrelevant and unsolicited.

Is there anything I can do to reduce the amount of unsolicited email I receive?

Yes: protect your email address. Only distribute your e-mail address to those people who you wish to have it.

Also, if you do find yourself receiving a lot of unsolicited e-mails, contact your Internet Service Provider (ISP). They can block future emails from the sender.

This is an important step that can help you and thousands of other subscribers. Once an ISP has reason to believe their network is being used to send unlawful unsolicited commercial e-mail, they can block all further e-mail sent to its subscribers from the address or domain name of the sender.

Never reply to 'spammers', and never buy anything from them!

Educate yourself about filtering. A number of e-mail programs, including Eudora Pro, Microsoft's Outlook Express and Pegasus, have filtering features that let you set criteria to stop unwanted e-mail before it reaches your computer, or, once it does, to move it to a recycle box where you can delete it without reading it.

What should I do if I receive a pornographic image?

The receipt of these types of images can be quite distressing for a number of reasons. However, the possession of and distribution of adult pornography - the majority of images that are received - is, as a general rule, not illegal.

What may be distressing to one person may not be to another. In a case like this it is a matter for the individual concerned whether or not to report this to your local police, who will advise you accordingly.

It's not spam mail and I think I know the individual concerned who has sent it. What should I do?

If the images are persistent and from the same source, this may constitute an offence. If you believe this is the case, save the e-mails on your computer. Contact your local police who will advise you on the most appropriate action.

If you are unsure about the source of an e-mail, don’t open it!

I have opened my e-mail and it appears to be an indecent image of a child. What should I do?

The possession of indecent images of children is an offence. It is also an offence to manufacture, distribute or cause to be distributed such images and these include pseudo-images. These are all serious offences and in cases such as these you should immediately notify your local police. You should also notify the Internet Watch Foundation, who are the primary reporting channel for obscene material on the internet.

What should I do with the image?

The image is obviously evidence of an offence and will be treated as such. Do not delete it but inform your local police. They will speak with you and take a statement from you, and will take the image as a production (evidence). The image will be copied onto a disk, CD-ROM or made into a hard-copy print. It can then be deleted.

You should then contact your ISP and inform them about this and consider 'blocking' the sender's e-mail address using the facilities on your e-mail account.

There are undoubtedly other queries that you may have but these answers are designed to give you general advice as to what to do.

If you have any serious concerns then contact your local police.

If you know about a child who is in immediate risk or danger, dial 999.