Recently we received a support ticket from one of our clients.  Apparently they ended up on someones "Email Forward" list.  We know these lists.  We have either ended up on one at some point or forwarded one on.  These are the lists that range from "Bill Gates wants to send you $100" or "This Blessed Me. . ." or "Killer Virus".  So what do we do with these.  My wife had a friend out of state who would send these to her.  She would get 3-4 a day.  Every once in a blue moon would her friend actually send her something that was for her, real email. 

So, what can we do.  Well here are some suggestions.  If you know the person well don't feel bad to send them an email and just let them know that you really don't need to get those emails.  While you appreciate them thinking of you your email box is already so busy that you rather just opt out.  If its a friend like my wives you could scan the subject quickly and delete it.  Some programs, like Outlook, allow you to add the sender to a blocked senders list and they go straight to the trash.  Hotmail and Yahoo both allow you to easily mark a sender's email as spam putting their email in a Junk Mail folder.  Its very possible that your web based email system even has a spam protection system you just need to enable.

Another thing to do is to create an alternate email on Yahoo or Hotmail and give that email to people you aren't really sure of ;-).  Check it once in a while.  Be careful not to put your email in a blog response or forum.  You'll be surprised at how fast the spam begins to come in.  Register for promos or giveaways with the alternate email.  If the email is a business one you can always let your offending friend know that they should try to send personal email to your new alternate email because you might get in trouble :-o. 

After you try some of these I hope sifting through your inbox will be a little less painful.