... has become the way forward for too many e-mail pests. How Mohan Sivanand deals with them every single day.

I ought to write “Manage spam, delete forwards” next to the 9am slot for every single day in my desk diary. But then I don’t write “Brush teeth” next to 6am either. I automatically start my workday by deleting spam, or at least most of it.

Today, there’s one from young Ayeda in Nigeria. “My name is Ayeda Musa,” she writes, “and I am a girl… and personally became interested in being your friend, and even more, as time goes on we will get to know each other better.”

For me, at age 60, this was like a blast from the past. “Dear Ayeda,” I wrote. “Where are you, Sweetheart? Send me your picture, and I will tell you how old I am.”

And there was V. Vasudevan. “Please Help!!!” he e-mailed me recently, “I had to rush off to Spain… and robbers made away with my air ticket, cash and other valuables. I am stranded in a hotel. Please can you loan me $2000 so that I can settle my bills and book the next flight home? I promise to pay you back.”

Now, that’s money I could easily part with. Why, in November I’d won half a millionUK pounds from the “Office of British Telecommunication.” I’d also won £500,000 from a “BBC 2012 Poverty Alleviation Program.” Another £365,000 from Coca-Cola. And just nine hours ago, I learnt as I write this, yet another “half a million UK pounds from Coca-Cola.” There’s also a Mrs Regina Matthew, who e-mailed me from Ivory Coast. Her late husband Joe Matthew left her 6.5 million US dollars. Regina, childless, is herself about to die of cancer. So she wants to give it all to me.

I worry, Just what do I do with so much money? One reason why I responded to Vasudevan in Spain:

  Dear Vasu,

  I am so sorry to hear this. In fact only yesterday I’d met your cousin Madhavan, who told me that you were away. Please let... Read More...