AOL Reports Drop in Spam Messages

The world’s largest Internet service provider believes spammers are starting to give up -- at least when it comes to sending junk to its subscribers.

The number of attempted e-mails to Time Warner Inc.’s America Online Inc. members averaged 1.6 billion in November, down from 2.1 billion a year earlier, the company said.

AOL spokesman Nicholas Graham attributed the drop largely to spammers moving on after realizing that many of their messages won’t get through AOL’s anti-spam filters or that they might get sued for trying.

During the same period, the number of spam complaints from members dropped more than 75%, after adjusting for a decline in subscribers.