If you send and receive e-mail, you probably get junk e-mail (or spam). Maybe a lot of spam. It can be annoying, infuriating, even disturbing. Not only that, spam can potentially be dangerous to your computer and to your privacy.

So what you can you do about both e-mail and Instant Messenger spam? Quite a bit, as it turns out.

Take advantage of the anti-spam features your e-mail program (or ISP) offers. In addition, keep your primary e-mail address as private as possible, review the privacy policy of websites and keep images from downloading automatically.

What you can do is quite straightforward: don't respond to spam and report spam to those who can do something about it.

Find out how to block instant messages from people you don't want to hear from, particularly using Microsoft MSN Messenger and Microsoft Windows Messenger.

Here are some strategies for keeping spam at bay:

• Enlist the help of your e-mail program or your ISP in your own attack on spam.
• Be careful about disclosing your e-mail address, keeping your primary address only for people you know.
• Review the privacy policies of websites to make sure you don't inadvertently agree to release your e-mail address to third parties.
• Block images which spammers can use to confirm your e-mail address.

Many e-mail programs have built-in filters that can help you separate spam from the e-mail you really want. You may also be able to get the help of your Internet Service Provider (ISP); contact your ISP to find out what services it offers.

You can also use the "Block Sender" setting in all Microsoft e-mail programs to block future e-mail from a specific sender.

• Microsoft MSN® Hotmail®: Get the details on how MSN Hotmail helps protect your mailbox from spam and how you can use it to delete junk e-mail before it arrives in your mailbox.
• Microsoft Outlook 2003: Find out how to step up your defense against spam and keep the junk e-mail filter up to date.
• Microsoft Outlook 2002 and 2000: Find out how to move spam out of your Inbox automatically.

Create a (virtually) spam-free MSN Hotmail account: Although the Microsoft SmartScreen junk e-mail filters are very clever, some spam may still get through. If you want to reduce your junk e-mail even further (particularly to protect your children), you can set up an account that will be about as impervious to unsolicited e-mail as is possible.

Brightmail, an anti-spam software company, estimates that 50 percent of all e-mail these days is spam, up from only 8 percent in mid-2001. Yet you may see only a tiny portion of that deluge. For example, MSN Hotmail uses patented Microsoft SmartScreen Technology and Brightmail tools to keep more than 2.4 billion (yes, billion) spam messages from reaching its customers' e-mail boxes every single day.

1. Source: Brightmail (2003), "Spam Statistics," www.brightmail.com/spamstats.html (Dec 8, 2003).

Some spammers gather (or harvest) address lists from websites where you may have signed up for a free offer, ordered something online or entered a contest. Harvesters may also use web bots, programs that will search for e-mail addresses on Internet white pages, job postings, newsgroups and chat rooms. If your e-mail address is posted for all to see, then you are particularly vulnerable to junk e-mail.

So follow these tips whenever you can:

• Set up an e-mail account dedicated solely to Web transactions: For example, an MSN Hotmail account.
• Share your primary e-mail address only with people you know: Avoid listing your e-mail address in large Internet directories and job-posting websites. Don't even post it on your own website.
• Watch out for pre-checked boxes: When you buy things online, companies sometimes add a checkbox (pre-checked!) to indicate that it's fine to sell or give your e-mail address to other businesses (third parties). Click the check box to clear it so your e-mail address won't be shared.
• Disguise (or munge) your e-mail address: When you post it to a newsgroup, chat room or bulletin board or other public places. For example, you could give your e-mail address as "s0me0ne@example.c0m" using the number zero instead of the letter "O." This way, a person can interpret your address, but the automated programs that spammers use cannot.

Tip: Consider creating an e-mail name (and address) that's difficult to harvest but still memorable. Try a combination of letters, numbers and other characters , for example, 3uan_gard3n@example.com (where "3" stands in for "E") or J0e_Y0ng@example.com (substitute zero for the letter "O").

Spammers, in their constant search for valid e-mail addresses, use special software programs that rapidly submit millions of random e-mail addresses - for example, someone@example.com, someone2@example.com, s_one@example.com, some_one@example.com and so on - to target e-mail computers, such as those at MSN Hotmail. This is known as a dictionary attack. Invalid e-mail accounts bounce e-mail back to the sender, so the software very rapidly records which e-mail addresses are active and which are not.

When you sign up for Web-based services - online banking, shopping or newsletters, etc. review the privacy policy (or statement) closely before you reveal your e-mail address. If the website does not explain how it will use your personal information, think twice about sharing it. (Also, be aware that many companies, even legitimate ones, may share your information in ways that you may not like.)

Look for the website's privacy policy at the very bottom of the home page (if not every page); you may also find it within a site's "Terms & Conditions" or "Terms of Use". As an example, review the ninemsn Privacy POlicy at the very bottom of this and every ninemsn page.

Tip: To help protect your privacy, you may want to read a fuller description of what to look for in a privacy policy.

Just as a lighthouse beacon beams a message with light, so pictures (or Web beacons) in e-mail messages can be adapted to secretly send a message back to the sender. Spammers rely on information returned by these images to locate active e-mail addresses.

The best defense against Web beacons is to stop pictures from downloading until you’ve had a chance to review the message. (For example, both MSN Hotmail and Outlook 2003 are preset to do this automatically for people not in your address book.)

So despite your best efforts, you've got e-mail you didn't ask for -- and don't want. What can you do?

• Ignore spam: Get the particulars of disregarding spam, such as never buying from spammers and treating attachments with caution.
• Report junk e-mail and its senders.

Note: It can be very worrying if you receive spam from what appears to be MSN® Hotmail® or even from your own account. Your first suspicion may be that someone has hacked into your account in order to send you mail -- or worse, to send other people e-mail that is allegedly from you. The truth is these fears are not likely to be real. What has probably happened is that an unscrupulous company or an individual has been using a bulk mail program to forge headers on to a particular e-mail message. The reason for going to these lengths is that it makes the e-mail appear to be authentic (and therefore people will open it).

Some of the forgeries add the recipient’s e-mail address (your address) or (your) account name into the header to try and make it appear more authentic.

It is offensive and Hotmail is constantly trying to stamp out these practices. But first, rest assured that it is unlikely that anyone has broken in to your account or sent you a computer virus and it is also unlikely that your account has been used to send e-mail to other users. For peace of mind you may wish to change your account password from time to time:

• Open your Hotmail account
• Click on Options
• Under Your Information
• Click Password

• If a company uses e-mail to ask for personal information, don't respond via e-mail, because it could be a trick. If a company you trust, for example, your credit card company, asks for personal information via e-mail, check into it further. Most legitimate companies will not ask for personal information in e-mail. Instead, call the company on a land line. Don't use a phone number provided on the e-mail; instead use one you found yourself, through the yellow pages, a bank statement, a bill, or other source. If it's a legitimate request, the phone operator should be able to help you.
• Don't be fooled! Be on the lookout for spoofed e-mail. Spoofing refers to the practice of tricking the recipient into thinking an e-mail message is coming from a familiar person or organisation. Unscrupulous individuals use them to trick people into downloading something which could contain a virus or sending personal information, such as a credit card number or password. These spoofed messages may so realistically imitate the company that they can deceive even the most sophisticated computer users.
• Always treat e-mail attachments with caution, even from someone you know. Simply opening an attachment could release any malicious virus it contained. If you cannot confirm with the sender that a message is valid and that an attachment is safe, delete the message and its attachment. (If you must open an attachment that you're less than sure about, save it so your antivirus software can check it before you open it.)
• Never, ever buy anything from spam mail. Spammers can make their living (and a good one, too) on people's purchases of their offerings. Resist the temptation to buy their products (and help them find another line of work). This has the added bonus of keeping you off more lists.
• Don't contribute to a charity based on a request in e-mail. Unfortunately, some spammers prey on your goodwill. If you receive an e-mail appeal from a charity, treat it as spam. If it is a charity you would like to support, call them to find out how you can make a contribution.
• Don't forward chain e-mail messages, because you may be furthering a hoax and you lose control over who sees your e-mail address. Additionally, there are reports that spammers start chain letters expressly to gather e-mail addresses. To check the legitimacy of a chain letter or potential hoax, go to Hoaxbusters.

Get active. Put junk e-mail senders on the defensive and report spam.

• Forward spam to the originating ISP. If you get unwanted mail, the sender's address will show the ISP name after the @ sign.
• If the mail came from MSN.com, forward the entire e-mail, with headers, to abuse@hotmail.com

To forward mail with the full header field enclosed:

• Open the message and then click "More" in the upper right corner.
• Click Message Source. The message opens in a new window with all the header information visible.
• Copy all the text and paste it into a new message. Send this message to: abuse@hotmail.com

• On the unopened e-mail, place your cursor over the mail, right-click and click Options.
• Under "internet headers", copy the full content of the header.
• Open the e-mail in question and forward a complete copy of the message, inserting the full message header that you copied, to: abuse@hotmail.com

• If the spam originated from another ISP, forward the headers (following the directions above) to the abuse alias at that ISP, for example, try abuse@.com or webmaster@[ISPname].com.
• Use the Network Abuse Clearinghouse for help in forwarding your complaints to system administrators who can act on them.
• Report junk e-mail before you even open it if you're using MSN Hotmail.

Tip: Check into Spamhaus for a glimpse into the fascinating world of spammers and those who fight them, including a list of the Top 10 Spam Countries and the Top 10 Worst Spam ISPs.

To get some measure of protection against instant message spam (or spim, as it's also known), follow the guidelines for protecting yourself against junk e-mail.

Never open attachments to an instant message from people you don't know (or even from people you do). One rule in particular bears emphasising: just as with spam, never open files from people you don't know, as viruses can lurk in attachments. If the file contains a virus, it will not be activated until you open the file, so it's smart to make sure that any file sent to you, even by someone you know, is legitimate. We recommend sending an instant message to the person who sent the file to verify that they are indeed the sender.

Both MSN® Messenger and Windows® Messenger alleviate this problem because they do not automatically accept files, giving you the choice of saving or ignoring any attachment. Additionally, you can use these programs to block unwanted messages and otherwise protect yourself from spim:

• Protect yourself from MSN Messenger spam
• Protect yourself from Windows Messenger spam

You can block messages from strangers in a couple of ways and also set up MSN Messenger to scan for viruses automatically.

• In MSN Messenger, from the Tools menu, click Options.
• Click Privacy and click to choose Alert me when other users add me to their contact lists
• Click OK.

When someone tries to add you to his or her buddy list, Messenger will ask your permission. If this request is from a stranger or someone you don't want to hear from, check Block this person from seeing when you are online and contacting you.

Try this for even tighter security.

• In MSN Messenger, from the Tools menu, click Options.
• Click Privacy and select All other users then click Block. This will prevent anyone not on your buddy list from sending you messages or adding you to their contact list.

Make sure you have antivirus software installed on your computer and that it's up to date. Then, to find out how to enable the scanning service, click the Help button on the MSN Messenger toolbar and click Help Topics. Then type scan for virus in the Search for help box and press Enter. Click Scan for viruses in the list and follow the directions given.

If you don't have antivirus software installed yet, we can help you take this step to protect your computer.

Build a list of people you want to talk to. Then sign up Windows Messenger to block messages from anyone who's not on that list.

• In Windows Messenger, from the Tools menu, click Options.
• Click the Privacy tab.
• Windows Messenger is set to allow anyone (All other users) to see when you are online.
• To change this, click the Block button to move All other users to your Block List and click OK.

Now as you selectively add friends, family and co-workers to your contact (or buddy) list, Windows Messenger automatically adds them to your Allow List.

When other users wish to add you to their contact lists, Windows Messenger will warn you and you’ll have the choice of allowing or declining.

Tip: Even after you've set Windows Messenger to block unwanted messages, you may still get pop-ups entitled "Messenger Service", "Message from source to..." or "Message Text." These may not be legitimate messages and although this is not specifically a Microsoft® issue, you can find out why it is happening and how to stop it.