Have you ever replied to spam?

I obviously live quite a tragic life, since I always get a bit excited by new email.

But at least 20 times a day, I'm disappointed to find my new mail ping is just telling me that my filters have failed and I've received some more spam. I tend to hit delete and not think too much about it.

I occasionally wonder to myself why spammers bother. It's not like I'm ever going to read their messages about lists of doctors or cheap prescription drugs and non-surgical ways to enhance various parts of my anatomy. And sending out millions of emails - even if you're doing it from an infected host machine over someone else's network - has to take time and money. Why bother?

Then I read an article saying that while two thirds of people consider themselves "very aware" of Internet security issues, one in three have responded to spam. Yes, one in three. That means if you've never replied to spam, one of your next-door neighbours probably has.

Apparently, while some people have responded by mistake (it could happen) or to complain to a spammer (pointless), many replied because they are interested in the product or service being offered. Think about that next time you're chatting about begonias over the garden fence.

Presuming you're not interested in meeting hot girls or (my favourite from today) "How to Be Her CEO of Love" then there are some simple steps to reduce the amount of spam you receive - and we've put together some tips you can download in the Resource centre. How about you? What are your top tips on avoiding spam overload?

Sally