The proliferation of unsolicited commercial email (also called “spam”) has taken its toll on a lot of people who simply want to use their Internet connection without being buried in a virtual avalanche of sales pitches and offers. By following a few simple practices, any person can learn to combat -- and reduce -- the amount of unwanted email they receive.

Back in the day.

In the earlier days of the Internet there was a time when every piece of email that arrived in my inbox was from an actual living, breathing person. The sender was either a business associate, friend, family member or somebody who found my name online and wanted to ask me a question about my area of expertise. I was “wired in” nearly all day, and my computer was set to check email every six minutes. Two to three times an hour, “Ding!” mail would arrive, I would respond, and continue my work. Email was my friend. It helped me stay in touch and get things accomplished.

What has changed?

I am still “wired in” nearly all day, and my mail is still checked every six minutes. “Ding!” Enlarge your penis in 30 days. “Ding!” Free auto refinancing. “Ding!” Own an online casino for $150. “Ding!” Accept credit cards now.

These days, only one in ten pieces of mail that I receive was composed by an oxygen-breathing carbon-based life form. All the rest are sent by bulk mail machines hoping these catchy titles will entice me to purchase their product or service.

How to stop it.

It’s probably not possible to completely eliminate all spam. But there are techniques you can use to significantly reduce its uncontrolled flow into your inbox. The more of these you use, the greater the impact you will notice.

Five things you can do right now.

1. Never respond to unsolicited email; even if they promise to take your name off their mailing list. The fact that you respond at all (even clicking on the links in the message that take you to web sites) only proves to the sender that they have a legitimate address, and you will likely receive even more spam than before. The best course of action is to just press DELETE.

2. Don’t list your email address on web pages or provide a mailto link using HTML. There are programs that harvest email addresses from web sites. If you must provide a method for visitors to reach you, use a fill-in-the-fields contact form or display your email address in a non-standard way, such as bob [at] example.com.

3. If you participate in newsgroups or post to public message boards, acquire a second email address that you use expressly for that purpose. By using a secondary email address in all your publicly-visible messages, you can keep your primary address more private. Also consider using an alternate form of your name when posting in public – either add or remove your middle initial, for instance. This makes it easier to implement filters (see below).

4. Don’t provide your email address unless you know how it will be used. Some web sites will sell your address to marketing firms. If a web site asks for your email address, be sure you know what it intends to do with that information. Read the terms of use and privacy statements on the site – if you can’t find these, leave.

5. Add filters to your mailbox. Your email client or third-party filtering software can help keep the spam that does arrive more manageable. Some filters act at the time mail is delivered to your mailbox, while others filter messages as you download them to your workstation. One particularly useful filter is to move all mail that doesn’t contain your email address in the To:, Cc:, or Bcc: fields into a ‘spam’ holding bin until it can be reviewed later. Consult the documentation for your email software to learn more about filters.

Here are some web sites you can visit to learn more about controlling your email.

Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial Email: www.cauce.org
Fight spam: spam.abuse.net
SpamCop: www.spamcop.net