Let this One Get Away. If you follow the instructions some commercial spammers include for getting off their lists, you could be issuing an invitation for even more junk mail, since these creeps now will know there's somebody ''live'' at your end. More often, your mail will be bounced back as undeliverable because the return address is bogus. That leaves the good old, reliable Delete key. Crude but effective.
Trouble is, junk mailers are getting smarter.
It's all too easy to delete mail from friends and keep the spam. If you've ever filled out an online sweepstakes form, posted a message in an Internet newsgroup, entered a chat room or subscribed to a mailing list, you may have unwittingly handed your e-mail address to a spammer. And once you get on the distribution lists of spammers, it's hard to get off. Short of pulling the plug on your PC, there is no foolproof method of sheltering yourself from these bandwidth bandits. However, there are some steps you can take to cut the amount of spam you receive.