Your inbox is likely to bulge with unwanted emails in the lead up to February 14 as Valentine's spammers aim to get up close and personal. However, be extra vigilant because it's no short term affair they're after, once they've got you they don't plan to let you go says Lawrence Jones, managing director of Internet Service Provider UKFast.

The new breed of image based spam allows cyber criminals to consistently bypass filters and monitor your actions until they back you into a corner, whether you're ready for commitment or not!

"Spammers use events like Valentine's Day to test our validity," says Jones. "One of the strongest defences we have against this form of spam is to delete on discovery. If you delete spam without even opening it, you give yourself a chance to avoid a long term relationship."

Days like Valentine's, allow malicious emails to have subjects that offer a strong sense of legitimacy. However, as soon as you open an image spam email, coding within the message sends data back to the source reporting that your's is a valid email address and places you on a priority list for the future.

"By opening the email you are effectively helping the relationship to blossom," says Jones. "The spam explosion of late is driven by image spam and the picture is less than perfect for the future. The best thing we can do this Valentine's Day is avoid all unknown cyber admirers and concentrate on real life relationships."

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About the Author

Two years as a broadcast journalist with Independent UK radio and the BBC, followed by two and a half years developing writers on all disciplines for the BBC's New Writing department. For the last 2 years Jonathan has been Communications manager of UK ISP UKFast and regularly write articles for newsletters, magazines and websites. His work with UKFast's extensive client base has afforded him a fantastic overview of businesses on the Internet.