"The share of illegal spam has grown fourfold in the past two years," Anna Vlasova told a roundtable at the 10th Russian Internet Forum.
She said the number of email messages containing illegal offers had increased from 6% in 2004 to 18-20% in early 2006 and could reach 20-25% by the end of the year.
Most of the spam on the Russian Internet originates from within the country, Nigeria, or Iraq and consists of offers to obtain lottery prizes, cash sums of money for a commission, help sell ecstasy, or buy gambling machines and fake goods.
Experts said the spam contained information that was specific to Russia, including advertisements for seminars and legal and real estate services. Education (14%), medicine (11%) and the adult-industry (11%) are popular themes for spam, which accounts for 70-80% of all email messages.
They said existing anti-spam efforts were forcing spammers to look for new spheres, possibly mobile phones, which can receive and send emails.
Vlasova said the lack of anti-spam legislation in Russia was allowing the problem to spread.
