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Penny-Stock Spam Yields Profits -- for Some A new study suggests that spam e-mails advertising penny stocks can have a real effect on the stock market. And someone is making good money as a result -- though it's not usually the recipients of the spam. When people respond to the e-mail by buying the advertised stock, it can bump up the price of the stock.

Technology

Penny-Stock Spam Yields Profits — for Some

Heard on All Things Considered

Penny-Stock Spam Yields Profits -- for Some

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A new study suggests that spam e-mails advertising penny stocks can have a real effect on the stock market. And someone is making good money as a result -- though it's not usually the recipients of the spam. When people respond to the e-mail by buying the advertised stock, it can bump up the price of the stock.

That's when spammers -- who bought the stock before they sent the email -- sell. Robert Siegel talks with Laura Frieder of Purdue University about her study.