How to avoid spam

Avoid opening spam emails and, if you do, don’t click on any links appearing in such messages.

Always be wary about giving out your main email address. If in doubt, it is a good idea to use a disposable address.

Never reply to spam or email to complain about it. You’ll go straight on the spammer’s mailing list as an active address and your junk mail will double.

Avoid ‘unsubscribe’ options, unless you are dealing with a reputable company (e.g. BT, your bank, Amazon.co.uk etc) and you are sure the emails in question are really coming from them. Cynically, spammers often include an ‘unsubscribe’ link. However, clicking on it will confirm that your address is active and – instead of removing you from their mailing list – it will attract even more spam.

Don’t sign up with companies promising to protect your email address and take you off spammers’ lists. All they do is collect addresses and sell them to companies that will spam you even more.

When you buy products or services online, or register on any websites, look out for tick boxes you can tick or untick as required, so that you specify that your email address is not to be disclosed to any third parties.

Use a disposable email address. You could use this account especially for buying online or writing to newsgroups. If you find that you are getting a lot of spam at this address, you can simply delete it and set up another.