Spam is a kind of uninvited, junk promotional email. Some of the spam emails also contain viruses, which is a major source of inconvenience for Internet surfers. Spam mostly takes up the space of the email box, is almost never read, and annoys people the world over.

Today, users have spam filters and other similar programs that can detect and block most spam. Nevertheless, often, these programs cannot stop all spam emails because spammers have become more advanced over the years. There are also third party spam blockers and spam filters, which can be downloaded for free and then can be installed on your computer. Spam filters can identify and stop spam and they can check certain key words and texts before it can reach your mailbox.

Here are the top five spam avoidance tips that you can follow to protect yourself from spam:

• Never post your personal email address on the web. Spammers now have programs like spam spiders, which are specifically used to find and gather email addresses. So, if it is necessary to mention your email address on the web, do not use your personal email but use a general email that you use only occasionally.

• Install anti-spam software. There are many anti-spam programs now available that stop viruses and trojans from infecting your computer. The basic versions of anti-spam software are free while the professional versions cost a small to large amount of money.

• Always have a secondary email address that you can use occasionally. Aways use this secondary email address for subscribing to newsletters and other promotional programs. Use your primary email address only for the people who matter most like friends, family and colleagues.

• Often you will receive an email from unknown email addresses that includes an attachment. Never open such attachments from suspicious emails or emails you don't recognize. those are from suspicious and unknown email addresses. These attachments often include viruses. If you are receiving spam emails, you have no option but to delete these emails without reading and opening the attachment.

• You can block spam emails by marking them as such. When you do this, these emails are sent directly to your trash or bulk mail folder the next time the come down the pipeline. Most email services offer this feature for free. If yours does not, find one that does.

These are the some of basic spam avoidance tips, which can help you to get rid of unwanted email.