You may check your email everyday or once every two or three days, but chances are you will find it cluttered with ads of performance pills, offers of all sorts and what have you. Some even carry headings like 'From Lisa with love' or 'David sends you roses', making you tempted to open the mail. You open it only to read some disgusting stuff bad enough to print here. That's spam or spam text messaging for you.

Here's how you can avoid it:

--Check message headings Just click a button/link called View Full Heading. See the 'reply to' address and check whether it is the same as the sender. If it is not the same then it may be spam.

--Don't encourage "Forward to friends" mails Such mails usually have the entire list of the persons who have forwarded the mail and also to those whom the mail has been sent. It also carries their email addresses. This is easy target for spammers to spot. Also avoid signature campaigns, as these are also often the tricks adopted by potential spammers.

--Read your messages in a "text only' format Don't view movie clips, pictures HTML documents from senders you don't know. By opening one of these, you may download virus or unwanted spyware. Switch to a Hotmail account as it automatically filters such mails.

--Preview Messages By previewing your messages you can know if it contains spyware or is unwanted mail.

--Use a Unique Email address If you have a email address that is common enough it is easy pickings for spammers software.

--Use alternate Email addresses Use an alternate email address to give out to mailing lists and newsletters. Keep your email address you give out to friends confidential.

--Hide your Email address If you do have to give out your email address on a site, keep it in wraps. You can do this by omitting the '@' sign and write 'at' instead. Your email should look something like 'My name at yahoo dot com'.

--Avoid the major free email services Spammers find the major email providers as happy hunting ground so avoid using them as your first choice.

--Use spam blockers Use a spam blocker or filler service to prevent spam mail.

--Change the privacy setting You can do this by making the spam filter your highest setting.

When you receive spam mail report it as this can help to track spammers and also discourage potential spammers.