Increased sexual prowess, low-rate insurance and a share of a $45 million fund are supposedly just a click away.

But before students log on and lose big, Penn State officials are warning students to be wary of e-mails full of promises. Many students receive such unwanted mail, known as spam, in their inboxes several times a day.

Katrina Getz (junior-horticulture) does not know why she receives spam because she does not give out her e-mail address.

"What bothers me is I don't know how I got it," she said.

Getz said she is frustrated by the never-ending task of deleting the about five spam messages she receives each day.

"It's annoying to have to go through [and delete spam]," Getz said. "You're always worried about viruses."

Some students such as Matt Cohen (sophomore-microbiology) simply delete the unwanted mail.

"In six or eight years of having e-mail, it's just a thing I'm used to," Cohen said. "People get annoyed by it but I don't really care."

Spam originates when e-mail addresses are sold by the thousands over the Internet.

But, students can do something about spam.

Kathy Kimball, director of security operations and services for Information Technology Services, said spam should be forwarded to security@psu.edu. She said it is important to keep the e-mail's header information because that is how the offender is traced.

After the student sends the spam to the office, the Penn State Computer and Network Security Office contacts the student with the necessary contacts.

If the spam comes from a non-Penn State domain, the Computer and Network Security Office will contact the sender's Internet service provider (ISP). Kimball said from that point on, it is up to the ISP to contact the sender.

"If it's one [ISP] in a foreign country that doesn't care, then it's not going to stop the spam," Kimball said. "We file a complaint and hope that somebody does something."

If the spam comes directly from a Penn State account, the offender will be referred to the Office of Judicial Affairs.

Barbara Copland, associate director of Judicial Affairs, said the penalty for sending spam varies.

"We generally give them a disciplinary warning if it's a first violation," she said.

She said offenders are asked to become familiar with policy AD-20, the Penn State policy involving computer ethics, and are asked to return at a later date to explain the policy.

Copland said if the offender lives in a dorm, his or her Ethernet connection might be disabled until a meeting with Judicial Affairs.

In a serious violation of policy, the student might be expelled from the university, Copland said.

Kimball said that while it may be easy to ask to be removed from spam lists, she advised students not to do that.

"We recommend that people not do that because it shows the e-mail account is valid, and it usually doesn't work anyway," she said.

As for the spam promising untold wealth and riches, Kimball warns those who receive the e-mail not to give out bank account or Social Security numbers.

"That's one of the top 10 Internet hoaxes," she said. "A lot of people receive them and if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is."