Top Stats At A Glance
  • In 2023, email served as a conduit for disruption in organizations, employed by 32% of threat actors.

  • The United States of America is presently at the forefront as the leading source country for spam emails, with a total of 8,765 spam emails dispatched.

  • Phishing stands out as the most prevalent form of cybercrime, with an approximate daily volume of 3.4 billion spam emails being distributed.

  • Approximately one in ten emails, specifically 9.9% or 255,222 emails, were detected as being compromised by malware.

  • In the year 2023, the State of the Phish report indicates that organizations reported a total of 18 million emails over the course of 12 months.

  • Scams are evolving as we move further into the technological era and the need for quality cyber protection is at an all-time high.

    Even emotionally charged and critical events like the covid19 pandemic are being exploited for fraudulent gains.

    So, where do scams and spam messaging stand in 2023?

    Well, a study found that close to 85% of all emails are spam.

    It's easy to assume that something malicious is unlikely to happen to you or someone you know, however,

    $70,000 was lost to Nigerian Prince scams in 2019 (and that's only people who've actually admitted it).

    We've put together a list 📃 of the top spam statistics that everyone needs to be aware of in 2023 and beyond.

    What percentage of threat actors used email as a pathway to disrupt organizations in 2023?





  • Top Spam Statistics 🥸
  • Spam Volume Statistics 💹
  • Email Spam Statistics  📩
  • Mobile Spam Statistics 📲
  • Most Common Spams 💁‍♀️
  • Wrapping Up 🏁
  • Top Spam Statistics 🥸

    👀
    Did you know?
    Spam is derived from canned pork meat with the same name.

    Here are the top spam statistics that will definitely pique your interest:

    • In 2023, email served as a conduit for disruption in organizations, employed by 32% of threat actors. 1
    • The combined daily volume of business and consumer emails sent and received is projected to surpass $333 billion in 2022 and is expected to increase to over $392 billion by the end of 2026. 1
    • During the second quarter of 2022, social media giant Facebook (now Meta) effectively removed 734 million pieces of spam from their platform. 1
    60+ Facebook Messenger Statistics: User, Usage & Data
    Facebook Messenger has become an integral part of our digital lives, connecting people worldwide. Embracing this messaging phenomenon empowers us to stay in touch, share experiences, and bridge gaps effortlessly.

    • Every 11 seconds, a small business is attacked by a phishing scam or hacker. 5
    Phishing is a type of spam carried out by an individual attempting to draw out sensitive information from victims.
    Circular Progress Bar
    0%
    of corporate employees fall prey to phishing emails and lose valuable information.

    • It's estimated that cybercriminals will extort over 33 million records within 2023 alone. 4
    • 64% of all companies have suffered a cyberattack at least once. 4
    There are close to 30 attempts to hack corporate social networking accounts per year per institution. That equates to three per month. 4
    • The FBI has received over 2.2 million complaints related to internet crime and cyber attacks in the last five years. 5
    • A study showed that only 3% of company folders are secure. 6
    Popular Spring Getaways in the US
    of Americans have never actually checked to see if they were affected by a data breach.
    of all emails have been caught by popular spam filters.

    • Social Security numbers are sold on the dark web for $1, while credit cards and passports range between $100 and $2000. 5
    • The Marriott hotel chain was hacked in 2020, resulting in a personal data leak of more than 5.2 million guests. 5
    • The antivirus software market is currently worth $3.6 billion. 10
    • 14% of online fundraising emails from NGOs end up in spam folders. 10
    • The top five countries with the most outgoing spam have remained the same for a few years. 10
    • In 2000, Argentina was the first country to implement an anti-spam law. Now the U.S. has the CAN-SPAM Act. 10
    • The increase in spam emails and subsequent financial losses in the U.S. saw the formation of the RAT in 2018. 10
    The service acts as a mediator between the FBI and financial institutions to recover the lost funds of scam victims.
    • LinkedIn automation eliminates 98.3% of fake accounts and spam content before other members can see it. 10
    • In 2018, Twitter successfully suspended over 70 million spam accounts. 10
    💡
    The U.S. takes the number one spot for the global share of spam attacks, with email messages being the most prevalent source of spam.
    Your Burning Questions Answered

    What is the significance of the 18 million emails reported by the State of the Phish organizations in 2023?

    In 2023, the State of the Phish report highlighted that organizations reported a total of 18 million emails over a 12-month period.

    How many emails were compromised by malware in 2023?

    Approximately 9.9% or 255,222 emails in 2023 were identified as compromised by malware.

    How was email used as a pathway for disruption by threat actors in 2023?

    In 2023, email was employed as a conduit for disruption in organizations, with 32% of threat actors utilizing this method.

    Spam Volume Statistics 💹

    Daily spam messages have been on the increase across the globe, just take a look at these stats. 👇

    • The country with the most spam emails is the U.S. 1
    Styled Table

    Spam Haven Countries - April 2023

    Country Number of Current Live Spam Issues
    China 18621
    USA 8317
    Saudi Arabia 834
    Germany 815
    Mexico 810
    India 804
    Turkey 765
    Japan 688
    Dominican Republic 684
    France 641

    • Global daily spam volume reached its highest point in July 2021. 1
    • 283 billion spam emails were detected from a total of 336.41 billion sent emails in 2021. 1
    • Since 2017, the number of phishing websites has risen by 130.5%. 5
    By 2025, hackers are expected to have caused more than $10.5 trillion in financial loss. 5
    • There has been a 17% increase from 2020 to 2021 in cybersecurity employees across the globe. 1
    • In June 2021 alone there were 5.9 billion spam calls reported. 9
    • User complaints about spam texts increased by 146% in 2021. 9
    • Reported growth in spam robocalls and text produced an estimated $29.8 billion loss in 2021. 9
    • Advertising and marketing-related spam are the most prevalent spam type. They account for 36% of all spam emails. 2
    • Most spam emails include a dangerous attachment. 10
    • The number of websites that phish has risen by 130.5% over the past three years. 6
    Spain was the most attacked country in 2020 with a dismal 7.76% of registered antivirus activation. 1
    • Germany was the next most targeted country with 7.05% antivirus activation, followed by Russia with 5.87% activation. 1
    • For the U.S., the total for 2020 reported spam cases caused more than $4.1 billion in losses. 10
    👥
    The data shows that spam continues to flood email inboxes, social media platforms, and other online communication channels. This not only hinders productivity but also poses serious security risks, as many spam messages contain malware or phishing attempts.
    Your Burning Questions Answered

    Why is cybersecurity important in 2025?

    In 2025, cybersecurity is crucial because hackers are expected to have caused over $10.5 trillion in financial losses.

    What is the most common type of spam in 2023?

    Advertising and marketing-related spam dominate the spam landscape, constituting 36% of all spam emails.

    How has phishing evolved over the past few years?

    The number of websites engaged in phishing activities has increased dramatically, rising by 130.5% over the past three years.

    Email Spam Statistics  📩

    Users send 306.4 billion emails daily.
    • For every 12,500,000 emails sent, spammers receive one reply. 3
    • Spam email sites generate around $7,000 per day for senders. 3
    • Email is responsible for close to 94% of all malware. 4
    Styled Table

    Which Countries Send The Most Spam Emails?

    Country Number of Spam Emails (billions)
    United States of America 8.61
    China 8.53
    Russia 8.09
    Brazil 8.03
    India 7.97
    Germany 7.9
    Czech Republic 7.83
    Poland 7.77
    Bulgaria 7.73
    United Kingdom 7.71

    • 1 out of every 4,200 emails sent in 2020 were phishing scams. 5
    • 30% of people unintentionally open a phishing scam email. 5
    12% of those recipients who accidentally open a phishing email will click the link inside. 5
    • Emails that have no subject are often referred to as spam. 4
    • 70% of spammers never write any subject in the mail. 4
    • In the U.S., around 23% of companies report more than 500 suspicious emails every week. 4
    • Gmail servers have blocked around 100 million phishing emails with their advanced filters. 4
    • More than 75% of all targeted cyberattacks begin with a single email. 6
    • The top malicious email attachment types are .doc and .dot which make up 37% of spam emails. 7
    The second highest spam attachment format is .exe, making up 19.5% of emails. 7
    • Spam text complaints increased by 146% in 2020 as a result of covid-19. 9
    • 14% of online fundraising emails end up in spam folders. 10
    👀
    After reading about all the terrifying statistics of spam emails, you must have realized that even the harmless marketing emails you send can be labeled as spam.
    Your Burning Questions Answered

    How much revenue do spam email sites generate for senders?

    Spam email sites can generate a substantial income for their senders. On average, these sites generate around $7,000 per day.

    How prevalent is the unintentional opening of phishing scam emails?

    Approximately 30% of individuals unintentionally open phishing scam emails.

    Why is email responsible for such a high percentage of malware incidents?

    Email is a primary vector for malware distribution, accounting for nearly 94% of all malware incidents.

    Mobile Spam Statistics 📲

    Are scam calls and scam text messages still prevalent in 2023?

    • Approximately 70% of internet fraud is achieved via mobile devices. 6
    • 24,000 malicious mobile apps are blocked from app stores each day. 6
    Key Spam Trends Shaping 2023
    Every 11 seconds, a small business is attacked by a phishing scam or hacker. So, it’s imperative you’re aware of the current trends steering this destructive industry.

    • Some studies found that Android phones are actually riskier than iOS devices because of the variety of operating system versions used by Android phone manufacturers. 9
    • Popular mobile social media app, Instagram found that bots comprise 15% of all users. 10
    💁
    There were 150 million spam accounts on Instagram in 2019. 10
    • 1 in 36 smartphones was equipped with high-risk applications in 2018. 4
    • In 2020, 56 million people in the U.S. fell for a phone scam and lost money. 10
    • 44% of U.S. citizens received spam COVID-19 calls or messages in the past few years. 10
    • In 2019, the average number of spam calls per user was 18.2 per month. 11
    • The U.S. jumped from 8th place in 2019 to 2nd in 2020 on the list of countries affected by spam calls. 11
    📲
    Mobile spam, including text messages, calls, and app-based spam, has surged in recent years. This surge is largely attributed to the growing number of mobile device users and the ease with which spammers can reach their targets.
    Your Burning Questions Answered

    What is the significance of Instagram finding that 15% of its users are bots?

    Instagram's discovery that 15% of its users are bots is significant as it highlights the prevalence of automated accounts on the platform.

    How common are spam COVID-19 calls or messages among U.S. citizens?

    According to recent data, 44% of U.S. citizens have reported receiving spam COVID-19-related calls or messages in the past few years.

    Why are 24,000 malicious mobile apps blocked from app stores daily?

    The constant blocking of 24,000 malicious mobile apps daily underscores the ongoing battle against mobile app-based threats.

    Most Common Spams 💁‍♀️

    Phishing attempts and spam issues can look different to different people.

    250+ Phishing Statistics: Types, Cost & More
    Although spam filters successfully detect numerous phishing emails, some newer and more advanced ones manage to bypass them. It is evident that the majority of people are aware of the presence of phishing attacks.

    That's because there are over 15 common types of spam.

    Styled Table

    Common Types of Spam

    Type of Spam
    Lottery scams
    Nigerian Prince scams
    Credit card scams
    Literary scams
    Poetry scams
    Jury duty scams
    Chain letters and email scams
    IRS email scams
    Vector Marketing Scams
    Paypal Scam
    Missing Person Scam
    Envelope Stuffing
    Work From Home Scams
    Work At Home scams
    Free Vacation Scam

    These common spam emails and phishing lures have a detrimental effect on email users.

    • 38 to 48% of victims find out about identity theft within 3 months of it happening to them. 2
    • Victims spend between three and 5000 hours repairing damage done by identity theft. 2
    • 40% of business costs for individual cases of identity theft exceed $15,000. 2
    • 66% of victims' personal information is used to open a new credit card account. 2
    • 46% of U.S. adults admit they wouldn’t know what to do if their identity was stolen. 6
    💭
    In the U.S., you can report a spam SMS by forwarding it to the number that spells SPAM (7726).
    Your Burning Questions Answered

    What are the costs associated with identity theft?

    On average, identity theft can result in significant financial costs for victims. According to statistics, approximately 40% of business costs for individual cases of identity theft exceed $15,000.

    How is personal information typically used in identity theft?

    A common way personal information is misused in identity theft is for opening new credit card accounts. Research suggests that around 66% of victims' personal information is used to fraudulently open new credit card accounts in their name, which can lead to substantial debt and credit damage for the victim.

    Wrapping Up 🏁

    According to current internet spam statistics, spam rates increased dramatically over the 2020/2021 period due to the hysteria created by the covid-19 pandemic.

    Money scams and phishing campaigns have become a costly issue for victims, businesses, and even NGOs who end up in spam folders despite not being malicious.

    The volume of spam has been steadily increasing with the majority of spam from the past five years coming out of the Russian Federation.

    This huge increase in unwanted calls, phishing links in emails, and spam text messages has resulted in more jobs for cybersecurity agents and a growth in revenue for detection systems.

    Let's hope that anti-phishing systems and new malware warnings from tech companies can reduce the cost of spam on global economies.

    Sources

    1. What's On the Other Side of Your Inbox - 20 SPAM Statistics for 2022 by DataProt
    2. Email Statistics Report, 2018-2022 Executive Summary by Radicati
    3. Spam Email Traffic Share by Statista
    4. Daily Spam Volume Global by Statista
    5. Phishing by Profile Books
    6. Proofpoint Phishing Threat Reference by Proofpoint
    7. Proofpoint State of Phish by Proofpoint
    8. Spam Emails Sent Daily by Country by Statista
    9. Refund and Invoice Scams Surge In by Infosecurity Magazine
    10. Broadcom Cybersecurity by Broadcom
    11. Spam Statistics by Zippia