Apparatus and method for receiving e-mail

A mail retrieval moderator instructs an image memory usage rate calculator to calculate a usage rate of an image memory, and determines whether the usage rage is greater than or equal to 98%. When the answer is "Yes", there is a risk that the image memory will have a memory overflow if more e-mail is retrieved from the POP3 server. Thus, a timer is reset and the control returns to ST When the answer is "No", there is no risk that the image memory will have a memory overflow even if more e-mail is retrieved from the POP3 server. Thus, e-mail is retrieved from the POP3 server. Accordingly, the apparatus and method for receiving e-mail is capable of securely retrieving e-mail from the mail server, even with a relatively small memory capacity.