It seems incredible that spammers ever make a sale with their unwelcome pitches to the inboxes of nearly anyone with an e-mail account. But millions are made by the purveyors of the practice, according to several organizations dedicated to fighting spam.

Spammers never have to close a single sale to profit big-time, experts said. By sending out thousands upon thousands of e-mails, they need drive only a small fraction of those solicitations to a website.

Spammers most often get paid based by website visits, whether a purchase is made or not, so it pays to promise anything -- like "free pornography" -- and coax clicks by any means necessary.

In 2005 and 2006, "Spam King" Eddie Davidson earned millions from an alleged "pump and dump" scheme.

The con involves promoting a cheap, risky "penny" stock through spam and deception to drive up its price, even slightly. Then the holder of a large volume of the stock, who has been behind promoting it, dumps it at the higher value, according to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

In some cases, spammers accept payments for sexually explicit products or "male enhancement" drugs, then never deliver, on the idea that rubes will be too embarrassed to report the fraud.

Spam also is linked to a wave of other profitable crimes, including identity theft and internet scams, according to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.

Joey Bunch: 303-954-1174 or