Tech Insider: David Wolfgang-Kimball

Spam is no longer just the miracle meat--it has also become the scourge of our electronic mail box.

Spam are those emails that appear in your box that you never asked for. They can be anything from product advertisements, to solicitations to join in multilevel marketing schemes, to supposed "hot stock" tips, to the embarrassingly explicit ads for Internet sex sites.

For more information about the different sorts of scams circulated through spam, check out my article on the Federal Trade Commission's top scams perpetrated through email.

Despite mounting public and governmental pressure, the flow of spam has not been reduced; if anything, it has increased in volume somewhat, clogging Internet throughways with its bulk.

How does spam get to your mailbox? Spammers maintain lists of millions of active email addresses and sell the lists cheaply to one another. If your email address is on such a list, you will receive a lot of spam, and it is difficult (if not impossible) to get off such a list. Furthermore, certain domains (like aol.com) are heavily targeted by spammers, as these domains have such a rich trove of users that they are more likely to get more bang for their spam buck.

You need not abandon your email, however! Although spam is an unpleasant fact of life on the Internet, there are some things you can do to minimize its intrusiveness.

Filter it Out!
Delete At Will!
Use Spam Busters!
Get Anti-Spam Help from the Pros!
Call the Spam Cops!

More columns by David Wolfgang-Kimball