Ever received junk mail? People you have received junk mail from, have become a little more tech savvy and found a way to send you more of it at no cost at all… they save even on postage. Spammers… send SPAM, unsolicited messages and unwanted emails selling a host of unneeded products. SPAM can be defined as the internet's equivalent of junk mail or as an e-mail message sent to people without their express consent or permission. Spammers get the recipient addresses using underground tactics and harvest them from postings, web pages and even databases. The less tech savvy use addresses by simply guessing common names and domains.

Spam emails are generally sent to promote a product or service that can be anything from "adult" products to website designing. Spamming is also a favorite technique used by hackers to replicate and spread viruses. Many hackers also use spamming to link you to many dangerous websites that gather personal information like passwords and credit card details that can be used for nefarious purposes. To a normal user these email messages may appear to be genuine since most of them come with a genuine domain name that could be misleading. In the tech jargon, this is called "Phishing."

The following are some strategies that can help to reduce SPAM and increase security of your email.

* You can configure your up-to-date anti virus application to scan your incoming email for viruses automatically. Email is the favorite medium of distributing malicious software.

* If you are interested to sign up for free stuff on the internet, always use a different email address to do so. Many free account providers like Hotmail, Yahoo!, Gmail are available. Use one of these.

* While posting email addresses in a blog use human readable format like ABC at hotmail.com instead of ABC@hotmail.com. This will reduce automatic bots from harvesting your email form to the blog to the spammers.

* Do not… repeat do not open an email from an unverified source. Delete it, especially if it comes with an attachment. Never ever reply to these emails, since a reply would only tell the spammer that your email is "alive"

* Use stand alone spam filtering software like Inboxdiet. Inboxdiet.com also comes with a 250 MB free email service. This spam software analyses your incoming email for common characteristics of spam.

All the best for a SPAM free email inbox.