Commtouch Security Number Of The Month May 2013: 50% Financial Loss For Victims Of Pump And Dump Spam

PRESS RELEASE

MCLEAN, Virginia, May 22, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

In March 2013, pump and dump spam struck back with a force not seen since 2008.

It attempts to lure email recipients into buying cheap stock with a low trading volume which the spammers previously bought at a low price. Once enough users have bought shares and the stock price has risen, the spammers sell - resulting in gains for them and losses for other buyers. In the case of a typical pump and dump campaign launched on April 19, the spammers bought the shares for as low as

$0.22 and then sold them for as high as $0.40, causing the stock to plummet to $0.20. In this way, the spammers gained more than 80% while the victims lost up to 50% (estimates based on analyses of the stock during the campaign).

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120501/529254 )

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130522/614114-INFO )

Each month beginning in May 2013, the research team of Commtouch(R) (NASDAQ:

CTCH), a leading provider of Internet security technology and cloud-based services, presents the "Commtouch Security Number of the Month" - a number representing and illustrating a current issue or trend in email security.

See the attached Commtouch illustration that depicts the pump and dump spam process.

About Commtouch

Commtouch(R) (NASDAQ: CTCH) is a leading provider of Internet security technology and cloud-based services for vendors and service providers, increasing the value and profitability of our customers' solutions by protecting billions of Internet transactions on a daily basis. With 12 global data centers and award-winning, patented technology, Commtouch's email, Web, and antivirus capabilities easily integrate into our customers' products and solutions, keeping safe more than 350 million end users. To learn more, visit http://www.commtouch.com.