The email brought convenience to communication. Where else can you find sending a message faster than email? You can send a message almost in an instant to anywhere that has a receiving end. You do not need a pen and paper. Neither do you have to spend for stamps, envelopes, and trips to and from the mailbox or post office. Tremendous savings in time and money are realized with email compared to the traditional snail mail.

Email makes sending messages so easy that its downside made its way into the system with equal ease. The downside we are referring to is spam. Spam is an unsolicited or undesired email message sent out en masse by a spammer whose purpose probably would be to entice you to buy their ware. As a result, junk mails go up, cluttering the email boxes of almost everyone, including you.

To prevent further proliferation, legal steps are being taken by lawmakers. They are introducing ways and means to curve and penalize spammers. While waiting for these legal actions, you can outwit spammers by adopting some timesaving tips such as:

1. Be discreet in posting and giving out your email address. Spammers are on the lookout for email addresses in chat rooms, message bulletins, web pages, and directories. Sometimes, you unconsciously and unintentionally give out your email address in the open. Please be reminded that being discreet is the first part of prevention. It minimizes the flow of spam messages.

2. Ignore the message. What is the best way? Delete messages from unfamiliar or suspicious sources.

Remember anything not worth your time and attention is worth ignoring. If you ignore the message, there is nothing left for the spammer to be enthusiastic about. Just by responding to a message, even in a negative way, only confirms that your email address is active. This is all the spammer needs to continue doing his stuff. Where there is no reaction, there will not be any further action.

3. Come up with a complex email address. Some people even use letters and numbers with barely any meaning on it. Still, others make the letters of their names run reverse. Sure enough, this makes it difficult for your friends and welcome mailers to remember your address. Spammers will find it difficult, as well.

4. Know that a spam attack usually runs in alphabetical order. When your Internet Service Provider (ISP) notices an onslaught is in the offing, they usually take steps to cut it off.

In this case, addresses at the end of the list would receive less unsolicited messages. While it is not your fault that your email address comes up early in an alphabetically arranged listing, you have the option to use a different name that makes it to the latter part of the alphabet.

5. Most ISPs maintain an abuse email address. Forward any spam message bearing an origin code to your ISP and who knows? Some positive action may be done about it.

You can minimize spam messaging by being more cautious and prudent in letting others know your email address and by taking some positive action on your side. This way, your inbox doesn't get cluttered with junk mails.