Avoiding unsolicited mail (spam)

Probably the best way to avoid spam is to set up a Quik spam filter. You can also use your mail client to block spam (click here for Outlook Express, here for Netscape). When you receive unsolicited mail (spam), you can forward it to the abuse department of the originating server. The best way to do this is to right click on the message as it sits in your inbox and click on Properties and then the Details tab. From there, locate the "Received: from" feild. There will be a name there. (for example: aaa.originatingserver.org) Cut off the first "word" (so the example would read "originatingserver.org" and forward the original spam to abuse@(originatingservername).com. For example, say I this is what I found after clicking 'Properties': Received: from someuserguy.aol.com I would forward the spam to abuse@aol.com and/or postmaster@aol.com. DO NOT reply to a spam message to remove yourself from their mailing lists, even if they offer it, because that lets them know that someone is reading the mail, and your email box becomes much more valuable to these 'companies'. The best plan, as always, is to keep your email address to yourself and friends, but I understand that that is nearly impossible. There are also programs to stop spam, like www.spamkiller.com, but these cost money, and few are willing to pay for it.