If you're like most people, you've probably received at least one hoax or chain letter in your inbox. What should you do with the next one you receive? Delete it!

Why you ask? Because chain letters and hoaxes have the potential to cause problems (lots of network traffic or just filling up someone's inbox) and they can also be very annoying.

Visit the following sites to find out more about hoaxes and chain letters.

• http://www.snopes.com
• http://www.breakthechain.org

E-mail and social media are unreliable media for sharing information. The first step to reducing the amount of junk is to stop sending it yourself. The more junk you send, the more you will receive.

First and foremost, don't forward spam messages and/or chain letters.

Be careful of links and attachments in e-mails, even if they are from people you know. The links and attachments may lead to viruses. They may also verify your address is active and expose you to phishing scams.

When forwarding emails to groups of people, send them via the BCC field; this shields their address from others. Ask others to send emails to you this way, too.

Be sure to have antivirus software installed on your computer. While you may be able to recognize an email with a strange attachment without opening it, a picture or Word document may harbor also a virus.