Virtual Library : 10 ways to keep your Inbox free from 'spam'

1. Install spam filtering software.

2. Have two e-mail addresses. One web-based on such as Yahoo! or Hotmail that you always use when registering for websites or for giving out to sources that you're not sure are trustworthy, and a second purely for personal e-mail.

3. Many ISPs offer spam-filtering services that minimise the number of junk e-mails you receive. Check to see if your ISP and/or domain name host offers this facility.

4. Never reply to spam even if there is an "unsubscribe" option. If you reply it will alert the spammer that your account is active. It may even encourage them to send more junk to you! There is also great value to the spammer in selling on active e-mail addresses to other spammers. You can report them to their hosting company (or via spamcop.net), but it's probably best to simply delete their e-mail.

5. Switch off the 'Preview' pane window in your e-mail reader. Some e-mails contain images which tell the sender of the spam when his e-mail has been opened. Some viruses can be run on your computer in this way too. To switch off the Preview pane, look in your e-mail reader's Help section.

6. If you do open a spam e-mail don't click on any links contained therein. Again, the spammer may be alerted to your visit by a unique code in that link that tells him you have an active e-mail account. He might even think you are interested in his product!

7. Set up a 'message rule' or 'block' the e-mail in your e-mail reader. For instructions on how to do this look at the Help section in your e-mail software. This doesn't always stop spam from getting through as spammers are wily and know how to get round such things, but it can often be of some use. You can block words such as "Cialis", "Rolex", "Free" etc., but be careful not to block words that your friends might use!

8. When signing up to things on the web watch out for ticked checkboxes that opt you in to receive mail from 3rd parties. You don't know how your e-mail address may be used.

9. Never forward e-mails to multiple recipients using the cc option. Always use the bcc (blind carbon copy) method if you can. Obtaining a forwarded e-mail with real, live e-mail addresses in it is a spammer's heaven! It also allows anyone (such as a disgruntled ex husband or ex wife) to gather the e-mail addresses of everyone you know, perhaps with the intention of telling them things you wouldn't want them to know!

Moreover, do you want people you don't know - just think how many times e-mails are often forwarded on - to have your e-mail address?

10. Disguise your e-mail address if you post in News Groups etc. Read more about how to do this here.

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How do spammers get your e-mail address?

There are programs on the internet whose purpose is to work their way through all permutations of letters and numbers in e-mail addresses. They start with names so, for instance, things like abrown@, bbrown@, cbrown@ etc. will be at the top of the algorithms that are targeting a particular domain. The spammers have no idea who might be behind that e-mail address, but by performing a 'brute force attack' that starts with real names there's a high likelihood that they will obtain real addresses.

More ways spammers obtain e-mail addresses:

Via 'bots' - computers that automatically gather e-mail addresses from websites, forums, blogs etc.
From e-mail lists that have been sold to them by other companies.
Using emails that have been forwarded to multiple recipients, with the e-mail addresses still on show. Aside from anything else, this one fact is a very good reason not to forward things to everyone you know!

Read about hoax e-mails >>

Don't even open spam e-mails!

If you haven't already done so, switch off your e-mail reader's Preview Pane. To find out how to do this, look at the 'Help' section of your e-mail software. The reasoning behind this is that the Preview Pane shows e-mails automatically. This puts you at risk of infecting your computer with a virus, and some of these can send out e-mails to everyone in your address book without your knowledge.

If the e-mail you're viewing contains images, this will alert the spammer to the fact that you have opened their message. This signals a 'live' e-mail address, which is very valuable to them and means you will get even more spam.

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Related 'spam' news stories

US arrests internet 'Spam King'

A twenty-seven year old man nicknamed "the spam king" for allegedly sending out millions of spam e-mails a day has been arrested in the US.

Neil Schwartzman, the executive director for the Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial Email, said that not only did Robert Solway spam people, he also targeted anti-spammers with "mail bombings."

Allegedly Soloway's spam contained phony headers with e-mail addresses or domain names of innocent real people or organisations, which were subsequently blamed for Soloway's spam and then "blacklisted" as a result.