If you have an email address, you'll be used to receiving spam - unwanted junk email, sent automatically to thousands of people. There are a number of ways you can end up on a spammer's mailing list, including:

• Signing up for a newsletter from a unscrupulous website, which sells on the email addresses of its subscribers
• Providing your email address on a newsgroup, message board, or your personal web page
• Choosing an email address which is then guessed (automatically generated) by software used by the spammers

Sinister spam

Some spam emails contain attempts to defraud you or damage your computer:

• They may infect your computer with a virus - a program that does something malicious, such as sending random files (or copies of itself) from your computer to everyone in your address book.
• They may contain a Trojan - a malicious program that may appear to be innocent (or be invisible altogether), but does something you don't expect, like sending your confidential information to a remote computer.

What you can do about spam

To cut down on the amount of spam you receive, you can ask your ISP (Internet Service Provider) about spam-filtering software. This will allow you to flag e-mails as spam, so that you do not receive as many in future. But some spam will always get through, so you'll still need to delete it.

If you are unsure about whether an email is genuine, assume it isn't and delete it. If you receive an attachment you weren't expecting, or from someone you don't know, don't attempt to open it. If the email looks like it's from Bank of Scotland International, report it to us.

To get more information about online security issues, try the following links:

• Bank Safe Online (opens a new window).
An advice website set up by APACS, the UK payments association, to keep banking customers up to date on online security issues.
•IT Safe (opens a new window).
A government site launched to provide individuals and small businesses with advice on protecting computers and other devices against internet fraud.
• UK Government - Home Office (opens a new window)
A site provided by the Home Office Identity Fraud Steering Committee to combat the threat of identity theft.
• British Bankers Association (opens a new window)
• Metropolitan Police (opens a new window)
  Office of Fair Trading Research - why people fall victim to scams