The Anything Digital Series: "When Spam Equals Scam"

The Social Network Show welcomes Michael Theodore, Co-host of "The Anything Digital Series" to another episode of this series on March 26, 2015.

SPAM, no not the food, email SPAM. It has been around a long time and the first recorded piece of Spam was in 1978. There is a lot more of it now and it has grown in danger. Michael Theodore, Senior Vice President, Learning and Development and General Manager of the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) Education Foundation and co-host of this series talks about the problem with spam including how it has become dangerous; how to get it out of your email without getting a virus or malware; who is making money off spam; do spam filters work; do people make money off of spam; why do the spam emails sound so ridiculous and who falls for them; and what is on the horizon.

For more information on scams, check out this Microsoft research article Why do Nigerian Scammers Say They are from Nigeria?.

Like many digital immigrants, Michael started his career in traditional media, with a 15 year stint in local and network television news and radio. After graduating with an MBA from Harvard, he worked as a management consultant in Arthur D. Little’s Media and Entertainment practice. That led to his introduction to the Internet, upon which he served as GM at both CitySearch and Kozmo.com. For the past 12 years he has served in a variety of senior management positions with industry trade associations, including the New York New Media Association, Connecticut Technology Council, and the Interactive Advertising Bureau, where he is currently Senior Vice President, Learning and Development and General Manager of the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) Education Foundation and is responsible for the Digital Media Sales Certification program and professional development workshops.