With so much spam out there, how can you keep your inbox free from clutter? You might try an add-on anti-spam program. Although your email client probably comes with some built-in spam filtering, an add-on program enhances your system's ability to identify spam and prevent it from infiltrating your mailbox.

When deciding whether or not to buy one of these add-on filters, consider a few questions:

How Much Spam Do You Get?

If you use your computer rarely, you may not get much spam. Check out your inbox. Is it usually free of spam? If so, your built-in filters may be enough spam protection for you.

Unfortunately, most of us use our computers on a regular basis and have fallen prey to spammers. Observe your inbox for a week or two and keep a log handy to record how much spam appears along with your legitimate email. Be sure to check your bulk mail folder for false positives as well. A false positive is a message identified by spam filters as a spam email even though it is from a legitimate or known source.

When you have your week-long results, look at the numbers. Are you missing important messages due to false positives? Is there an irritating number (even a few is irritating) of spam messages in your inbox? Do they contain offensive content? In most cases, an add-on spam filter could easily and cheaply clear up these problems.

What Type of Email Do You Get?

Spammers