Thank you for taking the time to alert us about the spammed e-mail that you have been receiving that offers Symantec's Norton brand products at large discounts.

Please be aware that the spammed e-mails and the companies or individuals who are sending unsolicited e-mails are in no way affiliated with Symantec. The e-mails are sent out without Symantec's knowledge or consent.

Spam e-mails offering discounted Norton brand products are highly suspicious and are investigated by Symantec. If you receive e-mails offering Symantec software at 90% off and/or if the e-mails say that the software will arrive in anything other than Symantec's standard yellow boxes, the offer is definitely suspicious and will be investigated by Symantec to determine product authenticity.

In response to the spammed e-mails and the organizations / individuals behind them, Symantec has developed a task force to investigate the e-mails and to work to put a stop to their proliferation, in addition to pressing criminal charges where appropriate.

With that said, we urge you to continue forwarding any similar e-mails to our task force at spamwatch@symantec.com, so that we can investigate who is sending the e-mails and work to put a stop to them. We rely on reports from individuals such as yourself, employees and contacts throughout the hi-tech industry for e-mails such as this, so we ask you for your continued help to put a stop to this practice by continuing to forward such e-mails to us.

Lastly, we suggest that you not to respond to spammed e-mails. By responding to them you are confirming the accuracy of your e-mail address, resulting in even more messages filling up your In box. Additionally, by purchasing goods and services from spam advertising, you are encouraging the growth of spam. Many of these spam e-mails appear to be efforts to capture credit card information. Do not use your credit card over an unsecured webpage (the address should start with https:// and there should be a yellow padlock on the bottom of the order form).

We sincerely regret the inconvenience these spammed e-mails have caused you and pledge to you that we are doing our best to put a stop to them.

Chad Sharpe
Internet Security Investigator
Symantec Corporation