Q: While I enjoy using e-mail, I am constantly being bombarded by unwanted junk mail, or "spam." I've tried requesting that I be taken off their lists, but it only seems to increase the number of messages I receive. Is there anything I can do to halt this barrage?

A: I think most e-mail users can understand your frustration. Spam is every bit as unwelcome as circulars in your post box or telemarketers who call at meal times. Fortunately there are ways to decrease or eliminate the amount of spam you receive.

FIRST, WHY SPAM IS BAD?

Theft of resources: The amount of time it takes to filter out unwanted e-mail from legitimate e-mail stops you from doing other productive things.

The receiver pays: You pay for receiving spam, through your online charges and your time.

You never asked for it: It is an of your privacy.

It's garbage.

The following are some tips to help you overcome or prevent spam and viruses in your e-mail.

• Be private. Do not give out your e-mail address in the first place. In many instances if you are required to give your e-mail address in order to receive something off a Web site, give an e-mail address that you have set up specifically to receive junk e-mail. You can easily set up free e-mail accounts for this purpose at hotmail.com or yahoo.com.
• Look for ways to opt out of receiving promotional mailings when you have to give your address.
  n Preview all e-mail by reading subject lines before opening the mail. If you're using an e-mail program such as Microsoft Outlook, use the "View" menu to set the "Layout" to show only the subject lines, so you can select what you want to delete without opening the mail. If you do not recognize the sender, preview the e-mail first.
• Watch out for fake headers. These are in the subject line and commonly appear as "Dear Friend..." or "Here's the information you requested." Many harmless-looking e-mails with attachments may contain viruses.
• When you receive a forwarded e-mail asking for help or money, and in return you will have eternal good luck (or bad luck if you don't forward it), do not forward it on. It is likely to be a hoax and is a great way for spammers to cultivate e-mail addresses. Many virus warning e-mails are a hoax as well. You should research virus warnings before telling your friends about it so you don't spread the hoax to them.
• When forwarding e-mails to groups of people, send them via the "BCC" field; this shields their address from others. Ask others to send e-mails to you this way, too.
• Use the filters function to weed out unwanted e-mails that do or do not meet certain criteria.
• If your e-mail address is on a Web site, ask your Web designer to transform it into a picture or change the "@" sign to "&#64" so that it's not recognized by the "robots" that come to steal e-mail addresses for mailing lists.
• Many spam messages have instructions at the bottom of the e-mail asking you to reply to the message if you want to be removed from their mailing list. Don't do this, as it will only confirm that your address is valid, and you will most likely be hit with more spam. Also don't submit your address to opt-out or removal lists, as these are hoaxes and will generate more spam.
• Never buy anything from a spammer's e-mail, as it is likely to be fraudulent.
• Don't reply to contests in your e-mail or offers of free Web sites, nor send money to anti-spam organizations, as they are most likely hoaxes.
• You can complain to the spammer's Internet service provider by sending an e-mail to abuse@[the domain] or postmaster@[the domain].
• Be sure to have antivirus software installed on your computer. While you may be able to recognize an e-mail with a strange attachment without actually opening it, a seemingly innocent picture or text document may also harbor a virus.
• There are also many different anti-spam software companies that offer electronic solutions. They're not perfect, though, and in many cases can filter out e-mail that you really do want to read, so be choosy when looking at your anti-spam options.