For as long as there has been mass communication, there has been unsolicited commercial content. The word commercial is an important distinction when it comes to spam. Many emails you receive may be unsolicited, in that you didn’t ask for them. But if they aren’t trying to get you to part with your hard-earned money, they probably don’t count as spam. It’s when they come with that angle that they become spam.

Depending on your email, you may receive large amounts of spam emails each day. These may be unsolicited offers of products or services, promotions for prescription drugs or dubious-sounding messages about lost relatives who have left you a fortune.