On my previous Dell laptop I was able to block unwanted email contacts but I have not been able to figure out how to do this on my Apple laptop. AN alternative to blocking would be to direct them to junk if I knew how to do that.
I just don’t want them in my inbox. I was stupid enough to enter my contact details and answer a questionare in one of those giveaways and from then on I am regularly bombarded by offers of free gifts or cheap goods from Countdown to Nike. I unsubscribe as they come in but that does not work for all of them and they keep on coming. With the Nike one the unsubscribe link never works. With Countdown, despite unsubscribing several time, they still come every so often. A word of caution. Don’t get sucked in by going into a draw for a free IPhone etc where they tell you that your chances of winning one are great. Never again,
Any help in dealing with this on an Apple computer would be appreciated.

Chris, I believe it's no so much the fact that you have an Apple device, but it's the email client you are using. Are you using something like gmail, hotmail, outlook, or what? Each has their own way of handling junk (Spam) mail. If you are using gmail, I can probably give you some very simple instructions to block emails that you don't want to receive.

If you are around 50 years old or over, have you got a SeniorNet near you? It may pay you to join up and they can help you with all sorts of problems, whether you use Apple or Microsoft.

Are they emails that you can UNSUBSCRIBE to? If so, scroll down to the bottom of the email and you will see a button or UNSUBSCRIBE word. Click on this link

If you dont UNSUBSCRIBE they will keep coming unfortunately

Ingrid, I do the 'unsubscribe' thing and for quite a number it has worked and the emails have stopped. However, there are some pesky ones that keep on coming. When I click on 'unsubscribe' on the Nike emails it asks me to choose a colour for the shoes they want to send me, so the link is not working. Lorna, on my Dell computer the email had a function that allowed me to direct these emails to the junk folder and they never turned up in my inbox. I just can't see such a function on the Apple, unfortunately. I've looked everywhere. Unfortunately, I used my main email address for this survey and not my gmail address that I use for newsletters, blogs etc. Live and learn.

Chris, are you able to follow this:

Select Mail. | Preferences... from the menu in Mac OS X Mail.
Go to the Rules tab.
Click Add Rule.
Make the criterion read 'From Contains'.
Insert the email address of the person you want to block.
From the actions, select Delete message.
Assign a Description to the new rule, i.e. Block Nike'
Close the dialog with OK.

Thank you Lorna, I've printed out your advice so that I'll have it in front of me when I set to and try to block these pests.