Log on to a computer virtually anywhere in the world and you'll inevitably be hit by junk email or as it's more commonly known spam.

Last year a bizarre record was set in the world of spam email - in America 160 billion junk emails had been sent in one day - that's over two dozen for every man, woman and child on the planet.

It's lucrative too - the spammers are earning hundreds of millions dollars a year.

But who are the secretive programmers who are sending out these messages? In Assignment this week, Simon Cox goes on the trail of spammers who sent him an email offering a product to enhance his sex life. His search takes him from Europe to America, Asia and finally to New Zealand.



Listen to the programme.