Spammers return to Obama and Potter

By July’s end, spammers preferred Obama and Potter to Jackson.

Michael Jackson-themed malware and spam campaigns that hit the net soon after the singer’s death on June 25, 2009 had faded by the end of July.

They were replaced by new attacks exploiting the popularity of Harry Potter and fears concerning President Barack Obama’s healthcare plan, according to the latest monthly State of Spam report from Symantec (NASDAQ:SYMC).

Pharmaceutical spam worked both the hope and the fear angles. Some pretended to offer meds from Obama’s new healthcare program, while others warned unwilling recipients to stock up on meds before they go away so that Obama could kill the elderly, a theme of recent conspiracy theories.

Overall, spam accounted for 89 percent of e-mail during the month of July, the report said. The U.S. was at fault, the report said, the source of 25 percent of all spam.