Avoid giving out your primary e-mail address.  Guard your main e-mail address just as you would your telephone number. Your main e-mail address is one you would give to friends, family, and business associates.

Create a special or second e-mail address to be used just for online public areas and surfing the Internet, where Spammers often go to harvest e-mail addresses.

Consider using a second e-mail address when filling out forms on the Internet - such as information requests, special offer sign-ups, or service requests— that might potentially lead to your e-mail address being sold or leased to other companies.  This would be like opening up a post office address.

Alter your e-mail address when posting your address to a website or message board/discussion group.  Organizations that sell e-mail addresses use computer programs that scan Web pages and newsgroups to harvest e-mail addresses. If you display an e-mail address on a Web page, or when posting to newsgroups, alter your e-mail address in such a way as to trick search programs but not confuse users.

For example, if your e-mail address is doej@strose.edu, change it to doejNOJUNKMAIL@strose.edu. Most users will know to remove NOJUNKMAIL from the address before using it, but search programs will not.

It is also a misconception that you have to visit a web pornographic site first, in order to receive pornographic e-mail.  Again computer programs can surf the web and obtain you e-mail address.

Never respond to unsolicited junk e-mail by clicking on the "Unsubscribe" link. Just delete it.  If you respond by unsubscribing, you are confirming that they got a working e-mail account and it will actually result in your receiving even more Spam.  Yikes!   

Avoid replying to junk e-mail with REMOVE in the subject line.  Messages you receive may include instructions (such as to reply with REMOVE in the subject line) on how to remove yourself from future mailings from the individual or organization. Unfortunately, many senders include these instructions in order to try to confirm that they've reached a working e-mail address, not to remove you from mailings.

Unless you unsubscribe from a mail distribution list that you signed up for or you know the message sender, the best practice is to discard these messages without responding. Some messages contain a phone number to call, but many contain no information on how to stop future mailings. Often if you reply to these messages, you find that the return address or phone number is invalid or belongs to someone other than the real sender.

Use your service provider’s Mail Controls to block specific addresses and domain names to send Spam to the junk e-mail folder.