When Clark checks his e-mail these days, the spam box outnumbers legitimate mail about four to one. And in his regular mail, there are things that shouldn’t have made it through because they are actually spam. At the same time, real e-mails are sent to the spam box and Clark never reads them. Spam has become such a huge issue because it accounts for about two-thirds of the mail people receive. The “pre-text” spam e-mails and “phishing” scams look so real that people open them unknowingly. They end up giving personal information and passwords because these spam/scam artists are so sophisticated. Furthermore, the big e-mail operators have failed to communicate with each other and develop good systems to block spam. But there are attempts underway to combat this problem. One that just got underway by the federal government is called “Operation Slam Spam.” Now, the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) is making its own effort. The DMA thinks these e-mail scam artists will severely damage their ability to market legitimately to the American people, so they are going after them. You’ll soon see people on trial for taking money out of checking accounts through phony e-mails and for lying to the public. You’ll never eliminate this problem entirely though. So, the major e-mail companies need to come up with ways to curtail this. And, as consumers, you must be sure never to respond to these e-mails. No matter how legitimate they look, no bank, auction site or credit card company would ask you to send personal or financial information over e-mails. Call the company directly if you have questions.