Consumer Confidential: U.S. tops spammers, Martha goes green, soup for China

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Here’s your woe-is-me Wednesday roundup of consumer news from around the Web:

-- Where does most of the spam in your inbox originate? Not Nigeria, it turns out, but right here in the good old U.S. of A. At least that’s the word from security experts at Sophos Software, who say the U.S. tops the list of the ‘dirty dozen’ biggest spammers. They say spammers seldom use their own computers to send floods of unwanted e-mails. Instead, they hijack other people’s computers with viruses to do the dirty deed. The U.S. accounts for the greatest number of infected PCs, followed by India, Brazil, Russia and Britain.

-- Martha Stewart isn’t just a homemaker. She’s now a home maker. The craft queen is teaming with KB Builders to make a line of affordable, eco-friendly dwellings sporting the Martha Stewart brand. The homes will be built in Orlando and will feature solar panels, rain-collection devices and other green technologies. And they’ll probably be in very good taste. Prices will start at about $200,000 -- a good thing.

-- Mm, mm good. At least that’s what Campbell’s soup hopes Chinese consumers will say as the company prepares to expand its offerings in the country. Campbell’s, the world’s largest soup company, started selling soup in China in 2007 but has been looking for ways to expand its business in a land where most people still eat homemade soup. Campbell’s has seen its core U.S. soup market shrink in recent months as competitors have offered promotional deals and consumers have focused on finding the lowest price for soup. In the latest quarter, Campbell’s ready-to-serve soup sales fell 13%. Do they make won ton?

-- David Lazarus