Spam is the bane of modern life. It takes email, which should be one of the most useful inventions of all time, and makes it into one of the frustrating inventions of all time.

It is estimated that more than 90 billion spam emails are sent every day, and that 25% promote products, 20% promote financial services, 19% promote adult services and 9% are scam emails. The remainder are used to promote web sites (9%), leisure activities (6%) and spiritual services (4%).

According to research from McAfee, registering an e-mail address with just one Web site can result in hundreds of junk e-mails a week, demonstrating how easy it can be to become the target of unsolicited mail.

“While today’s spam filters have improved to catch a larger percentage of junk mail, the threat of spam never really goes away,” said Jeff Green, senior vice president of McAfee Aver Labs.

The company has compiled seven tips, which it says can help keep your computer spam free:

1. Don’t publish your e-mail address on any Web site or discussion forum
2. Use a separate e-mail address to sign up for newsletters, online postings and trade shows. If your mailbox starts receiving an abundance of spam, you can delete the mailbox or filter it more aggressively
3. If you didn’t originally sign up to receive an e-mail, or if you don’t recognize the sender, do not unsubscribe from the list.  By unsubscribing, you show the spammer that your e-mail address is active
4. If you use Web-based e-mail services, report spam to the service provider.  This helps the provider more accurately determine which messages are spam
5. Use anti-spam software, which blocks 97 percent to 99 percent of spam to significantly reduce the spam in your inbox
6. Keep a collection of mail you want to stop receiving and determine which e-mail addresses or phrases in the messages don’t change.  Use this information to keep further unwanted e-mail out of your inbox by creating filter.
7. Do not reply to spam.  Most important, don’t buy anything from spammers.

And just remember, if you think you’ve got it bad, just consider Bill Gates’ plight, who receives around 4 million emails per year — most of which are spam.

Related:

Entry was posted on Saturday, June 23rd, 2007 at 5:35 am under Security, Spam, Tips and advice.

Read more entries by John Pospisil.
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