Since I last wrote an editorial on the spam menace, things seem to have taken a turn for the worse, with the vast majority of e-mail users now affected by regular offers of prescription drugs, pornography, unlikely mortgage schemes and other dubious products.

Given the laws of supply and demand, this sort of marketing method would die out pretty quickly if it failed to work. But it hasn't died out, which implies that somewhere out there is a significant number of people responding to these e-mailed scams, blithely giving out their credit card numbers in exchange for the promise of anti-impotence drugs, teen porn or a 'too good to be true' (the clue's in the phrase) loan offer.

What's needed, then, is a means of identifying these people - who may be new, inexperienced users or just plain, old-fashioned idiots - and taking away their Internet access (and preferably their licence to procreate, too). Then, after a few months, the amount of spam will trail off as the spammers realise that all their efforts are a complete waste of time.

OK, that's not a realistic option, but there really aren't many ways of stopping spam. Just as virus writers find their way around anti-virus software on a regular basis, so the spammers will find increasingly sophisticated ways of persuading people to part with their money. Automated spam filters won't keep up. Confirmation-based systems, such as that offered by Gordano, might help. This type of software sends a reply back to the e-mail sender asking them to confirm that they really did mean to send the e-mail. If there's no response, the e-mail is deleted after a set period of time. You can set up rules to automatically allow mail through from 'trusted' users, so only unknown senders will be queried.

There's still a problem, though. Spammers don't use their own addresses; instead they often use other people's, often randomly selected. So the person whose e-mail address was used, without their knowledge, in the 'From' field of a spam message may find themselves deluged with confirmation requests. Alternatively the spammer could use a real, but anonymous e-mail address in the 'From' field and set up a routine to automatically handle the confirmation e-mails. Either way, we're back to the arms race between spammers and anti-spammers.

So what can you do? First, don't reply to spam. If you do you'll simply be creating more hassle for the person whose e-mail address was used in the 'From' field. Similarly, don't post that address on other Web sites, or send large files to it, or do anything similar. You won't be harming the spammer in any way whatsoever; you'll just be annoying another user and you could find your account closed by your ISP for doing so. Remember, an e-mailed 'From' address can be forged by anyone; it's about as reliable as a 'return to' address scribbled on the back of an envelope.

Most importantly, don't click on any of the links in a spam e-mail. Just delete it. If the spam to one e-mail account gets too great, open another with a different ISP. Use an unguessable address (i.e. one without real names in it) and only give it to your trusted friends and work colleagues. Start treating your e-mail address as you would your phone number; don't give it to everyone and don't publish it on the Web. And if you really want porn, Viagra or a better mortgage, get it from your high street.