Posting e-mail addresses

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wdln
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Full Name: Dave Lennie
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Posting e-mail addresses

Post by wdln »

A quick note to spread a word of caution about posting e-mail addresses in the body of a message...

When you put your e-mail address in a message, you open yourself up to a lot of spam. Not really because people will see it and send you junk, but because there are "bots" (automatic computer programs that scour every page on the web) out there that look for e-mail addresses. When they find one, they send it back to their owner, who can put it in a distribution list for the latest Viagra or fake stock price message. This, along with buying lists of e-mail addresses from not-so-reputable businesses, is one of the primary methods used to generate these spam lists. And as many of you know, once you get on, it is difficult to get off short of changing your e-mail address.

There are several alternatives... at the bottom of any message you post, there is an "e-mail" button. Clicking on this will allow someone to send you an e-mail message through the forum's system, but the button hides your actual address from the bots. Handy.

You can also ask for people to "PM" you, which means Private Message. This is like an e-mail system just for forum users. When you are signed in, at the top of the screen it normally says "You have no new messages". If someone sends you a PM, it will tell you there and you can just click on that link to view your new messages. Then you can communicate with someone individually to arrange a service or sale without posting your messages for all to see.

Hopefully this will help people cut down on their spam content... I've seen too many people posting e-mail addresses lately so I thought I'd say something.

Dave
Last edited by wdln on Wed Jan 09, 2008 8:59 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Big D

Post by Big D »

Thanks Dave, your info will help contain this problem :wink:
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