Any inappropriate message posted to a newsgroup or emailed to an individual is spamming. Most spams have nothing to do with the topics covered by the newsgroups or individuals that receive them. Often they are solicitations or 'get rich quick' schemes. The best policy is to ignore spamming.
Spamming can be an irritation, but inappropriate crossposting is more disruptive to newsgroups. Particularly, the posting of provocative messages to diverse or antagonistic newsgroups, e.g., alt.cat.lovers and alt.animal.haters.
Again, the best policy is to ignore such messages. Sometimes people do things just to get a response. Try not to give them one.
If you receive e-mail you feel is unwanted or inappropriate, you can report it to the internet service provider of the person or business that sent the e-mail. If, for example, you received e-mail from ripoff@cheesyprovider.com, you could try going to the website www.cheesyprovider.com. There you'll probably find a link to send email to the webmaster.