How to Trim the "Spam" from Your E-Mail Diet
Tips for Reducing and Managing Junk E-Mail

Unsolicited commercial e-mail, commonly called "spam" or junk e-mail, not only clutters our inboxes, but can also invade our lives with unwanted messages that may even deceive or disgust us. It's bad enough that spam wastes our bandwidth at the office. Even worse is knowing that junk e-mail may target our kids, grandchildren, and elderly relatives in their homes. The flow of unsolicited commercial e-mail can be slowed with advanced filtering and other new technology, but curbing spam also requires the combined action of computer users, industries, and government. You can take these steps to help decrease your exposure to unwelcome messages:

Create an alternate e-mail address for public interactions. Your participation in Internet newsgroups or chat rooms makes it easy for list compilers who use automated bots (computer programs) to harvest e-mail addresses to sell to junk e-mail senders. To reduce your exposure, set up a second e-mail address to use when participating in online forums, registering with Web sites, entering contests, or filling out forms on the Internet. Share your primary e-mail address only with people you know.
Keep your primary e-mail address private. Option (opt) out of being listed in online member directories.
Review a Web site's privacy policy before doing business online. When you sign up for Web-based services such as online banking, shopping, or newsletters, review the privacy policy closely. Some sites will automatically assume the right to share your e-mail address with other organizations. Responsible sites will offer you a way to opt out.
Ignore spam. Spammers often combine names randomly with popular e-mail services (for example, MSN® Hotmail®, AOL, and Yahoo!) in hopes of finding valid e-mail addresses. By responding to the junk e-mail, even to unsubscribe, you may be inadvertently verifying that the message has reached a working e-mail address. Unless you are unsubscribing from a distribution list that you signed up for or you know the sender of the message, discard it without responding.
Use Technology to Help Block Junk E-Mail
In addition to changing how you manage your e-mail and Web activities to help avoid junk e-mail, you can help block it by using technology from Microsoft and other companies. Here's how:

Set up filters that assist in blocking junk e-mail. You can set up many e-mail programs to scan incoming mail for certain addresses or for phrases that are commonly used in junk and adult-content messages. You can have such messages automatically sent to the trash or to a specified folder.
Use an Internet Service Provider (ISP) that uses technology to help filters junk e-mail. Some ISPs use technology to help filter junk e-mail before it reaches your inbox. MSN 8, Microsoft's subscription Internet access and content service, uses tools from Brightmail and Microsoft-developed filters that assist in blocking spam at the mail server.
Help Stop Junk E-Mail at the Source
Unwanted commercial e-mail isn't just a private concern. In addition to technological innovations, Microsoft is intensifying its efforts to cooperate with other ISPs in fighting spam, and working with government to enforce and strengthen anti-spam laws. You can take these steps to help:

Report junk e-mail senders. Most ISPs and e-mail services have a complaint address to help eliminate junk e-mail from their systems. If you get unwanted mail, the sender's address will show the ISP name after the at sign (@). Forward the junk e-mail to the ISP's complaint address. Although many senders are outside the jurisdiction of the United States, the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) can take action against United States-based spammers and scammers.
Stay informed. Groups fighting unsolicited commercial e-mail operate Web sites to share information about their efforts to reduce the clutter in everyone's inbox. These groups include:
Spam Abuse
Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial Email (CAUCE)
Privacilla
Network Abuse Clearinghouse
Next Steps
Here are some online resources you can use to help reduce spam while continuing to enjoy all that the Web has to offer.

Get a free MSN Hotmail account to use for Web site registration and other online activities
Add an e-mail account in Microsoft® Outlook® for Web activities
Learn about the e-mail blocking, filtering, and managing features in:
Microsoft Outlook
Microsoft Outlook Express
MSN 8
MSN Hotmail
Review the FTC's tips for fighting spam
Forward any deceptive or unwanted e-mail to the FTC at uce@ftc.gov .

Today's Tip:

How does a firewall help protect your computer?
Firewalls help safeguard your computer by enforcing restrictions on incoming traffic. Firewalls can also help mask your computer's identity, so hackers' attempts to probe or scan your computer cannot return the type of information that makes it easy to invade.