Vendors hawking penile enlargers and bargain mortgage rates aren't the only ones making money off the scourge of spam. The spam-fighting industry stands to make a tidy sum in the coming years.

Recent estimates from the Radicati Group show that firms selling antispam products and services stand to make $653 million in revenues in 2003, and up to $2.4 billion by 2007.

In comparison, spammers overall will make between $11 million and $111 million this year, an estimate derived by comparing the number of known spammers with the range of their incomes as reported in public interviews.

The potential to cash in by fighting spam has not gone unnoticed by tech-savvy entrepreneurs and investors. More than 150 vendors have brought products and services to the market, the majority of which were introduced in the past year.

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