According to a new report by security researchers, 70% of all spam sent last month was the result of a massive pharmaceutical scam. The messages were made to look like they came from legit pharmacies in Canada, but the links either led to fake sites that allowed visitors to place orders but instead of fulfilling them, stole their financial info, or to shady pharmacies that sold fake knock offs of popular prescription drugs like Viagra, Cialis, Cymbalta, Chantix and Ambien.  Many of the messages attempt to exploit concerns about the Swine Flu virus and health care reform.

“Contrary to what we witnessed in the first half of this year, phishers came back with a vengeance in the third quarter”, says IBM researcher Holly Stewart. “By August, however, the volume of phishing reached the volume seen in the most active months of 2008, and the volume seen in September completely surpassed the volume seen during any one month of 2008.”

The pharmacies in the spams aren’t located in Canada at all.  Researchers say they are likely located in Russia and run by the partnerka, a network of spammers and malware distributors.

Phishers are going after email accounts with vengeance.  New or “virgin” accounts are especially desirable because they haven’t yet been blocked by spam fliters or blacklists. These accounts are sold to spammers for $2 each.  While the global economy is still recovering, the underground cybercrime economy appears to be booming.