The award for the worst invention of the information age goes to: spam. The annoying unsolicited — and malicious — emails seem to find their way into your inbox no matter how hard you try to keep them out. Unfortunately, to be free of them, there is little you can do outside of never giving your email address out. But the problem is that you need to use your email for just about everything, from accessing your bank account online to signing up for online college courses. However, there are steps you can take to avoid spam as much as possible.

Be careful what you sign up for

Sure the pop-up ad offering a free iPod sounds like a great deal, but before you jump on it review what information they are requesting. Likely the offer is just guise to attain your personal info, like your email, to sell or use for marketing purposes.

Read the fine print

Even when you sign up for email alerts or news feeds from a trusted sender, read the fine print on the submission form. Most companies will ask at the very bottom if you allow them to email additional company materials or materials from sister organizations.

Purchase anti-spam software

Anti-spam software, or spam filters, will monitor your inbox and help extract anything that resembles spam.

Get a new email account

When all else fails, get a new email account. While creating a new email account is an exasperating solution, it gives you a fresh new start.