If you have an e-mail address, there’s a good chance that you are already familiar with spam. As of 2006, over 40% of the e-mail sent on the Internet was unsolicited, junk e-mail intended for commercial purposes, better known as spam. The average person receives over 100 spam e-mail messages every day. E-mail service providers have done a good job at figuring out how to filter spam out of inboxes and send it to a junk mail folder, but even with incoming messages being screened and filtered, spam continues to be a nuisance to most people.

Although it may be impossible to avoid spam entirely, there are several things that e-mail users can do to reduce incoming spam, including:

Control your E-mail address

The more frequently an internet user enters or posts an e-mail address online, the greater the chance of spammers adding that e-mail address to their list. Avoid posting an e-mail address on a message board. Many people create a disposable e-mail address, one that they use when they need to enter an address to sign up for something online. Their personal e-mail address, or the main address that they prefer to use, is given only to people and businesses that are known and invited to use the address.

Watch out for check boxes

As our world becomes more electronic, we are often asked to register in order to use certain websites that we need access to. Quite often, the registration process includes questions regarding the registrant’s desire to receiving related offers via e-mail. In most cases, these check boxes are already checked for you, and you need to un-check the boxes to avoid being barraged with junk e-mail. Much of the spam that is received in e-mail boxes is invited because of these check boxes.

Disguise your E-mail address

There are times when users have to post their e-mail address in a place that could be seen by other web users. One way to avoid attracting spammers is to disguise the posted address. For example, instead of posting your actual e-mail address of joeblow@hotmail.com, you would post “joeblow AT hotmail DOT com.” Programs that scan web pages for e-mail addresses will not detect this disguised address. It’s also a good idea to search online for your e-mail address. Typing your actual e-mail address into Google will tell you whether or not it can be found in public places online.

Read Privacy Policies

Many of the websites that Internet users register for have terms and conditions that most people never read. Within these terms and conditions, there is a privacy policy that should state ways that your information will be kept confidential. If you are not satisfied with the measures being taken to protect your information, you should not register at the site.

There are several other tricks and tips to avoid spam e-mail, but taking the above steps will be a good start. If spam is a problem for you, consider starting over with a new e-mail address and practicing the above habits.