About 60 per cent of messages flowing across the internet are junk, or “spam” as it is called. Every year, billions of unwanted messages are sent to unwitting recipients, offering pornography, weight-loss plans, impotence cures, get-rich-quick schemes, herbal cures and a plethora of other dodgy goods and services.

Every time you enter your e-mail address into a document online or offline, you run the risk that it will be sold on to spammers. It’s illegal under European law to send spam, but that has done little to stem the flow of junk e-mails, which mostly originate from outside the EU.

However, there are a number of measures you can take to stop your in-box being filled with rubbish every day.

Never respond

Many email spammers offer recipients the option to unsubscribe from their mailing list. Tempting though it seems, don’t do it! It is usually a fake offer that simply confirms that a respondents e-mail address is active and worth spamming. A company is more likely to take you off their list if they don’t hear a peep from you for a long time.

Never buy anything from a spammer. You’ll only help fund his or her efforts and be subject to even more junk e-mail. And don’t try to retaliate by ‘mail bombing’ the spammer. Not only are you sinking to his or her level by sending a deluge of messages, you will probably be sending them to an address that’s forged or ignored by the spammer.

Use filtering software

The most up-to-date e-mail packages have their own anti-spam filters that block incoming messages from specified addresses or with key words and phrases in the title bar, such as “for free” or “sex”. Free Iinternet e-mail services such as Hotmail (www.hotmail.com) and Yahoo (www.mail.yahoo.com) also have filters and usually offer the opportunity to say “no” to unsolicited messages when you create a new account.

There are various anti-spam software applications available on the market, too – though they can be expensive and are best recommended for business use. However, packages like MailWasher (www.mailwasher.ne) are available to download for free.

Set up a bogus e-mail account

When registering for a website you could “accidentally” misspell your e-mail address. The problem with this is that many sites insist on sending you an e-mail with a password or a link for you to click to confirm your registration.

A more practical measure is to either set up a free iInternet e-mail account for the sole purpose of shopping online and registering for websites, or use a service like Sneak Email (www.sneakemail.com), which creates a temporary e-mail address that redirects mail to your real address.

Spammers often use automated software to generate e-mail addresses using variations of popular names, so when creating an e-mail address for yourself, make it as unusual as possible. Add unlikely words and numbers.

Contact your ISP

Increasingly, spam blocking is seen as one of the services a good iInternet service provider should supply. E-mail yours and ask what services it offers. You may be able to block spam at its gates before it even reaches your mailbox.

If you aren't happy with the answer, think about taking your custom to another ISP.