What is spam? Spam is any kind of unwanted online communication. The most common form of spam is unwanted email. You can also get text message spam, instant message spam (sometimes known as spim ), and social networking spam. Some spam is annoying but harmless. However, some spam is part of an identity theft scam or other kind of fraud. Identity theft spam is often called a phishing scam. How to reduce spam email ? Use email software with built-in spam filtering. SmartScreen filter helps reduce unwanted email. It's built into Microsoft email programs and is turned on by default. SmartScreen is included in Outlook.com (formerly Hotmail ), Outlook (part of Microsoft Office), Exchange, Windows Live Mail, and Entourage. Add people you know to your safe sender list and unwanted senders to your blocked list. This helps SmartScreen personalize your email experience, to deliver email that you want into your Inbox, and to filter unwanted email i...