Just as there are spiders (web robots or whatever you want to call them) that look at Web pages to harvest addresses, there are spiders that look on newsgroups, in chat rooms, and Web discussion boards too. Postings to newsgroups and boards often require the entry of an e-mail address of some kind. Some people simply post a phony address; that works. Others disguise their usual e-mail address so that those “in the know” can still contact them, while spiders get lost in the Web.
The idea behind obfuscating is that the address is broken up in a way that a spider can’t identify it as a phony address but a reasonably intelligent person can. For example, if your email address is BobsAGreatGuy@mac.com you might try any of the following addresses:
· BobsAGreatGuy@MacPULLTHIS.com
· BobsAGreatGuy@MacNOSPAM.com
· BobsAGreatGuy@MacSPAMSUCKS.com
Unfortunately, the spammers figured this out pretty quickly (seeing how all they have to do is note that an address has several blocks of upper case type), so you’ll have to be a little more ingenious if you really want to protect yourself:
· BobsAGreatGuy@MacPuLLThIS.com
· BobsAGreatGuy@MacNO$PAM.com
· BobsAGreatGuy@MacSPaMSuCKS.com
Although it might take a minute to figure out what to remove, those users who participate in newsgroups regularly will be old pros and will know what you’ve done.
Tip: It won’t be long before you’ll have to remove the word “spam” from your obfuscated address name. Spammers have figured that out, too.
The largest and best-known e-commerce retailers like Amazon.com can probably be trusted not to sell your e-mail addresses to spammers. (They have too much to lose if it ever came out, for way too small a financial gain.) Unfortunately, midsize and smaller retailers are another matter. When creating an account with online retailers, then, no matter how big or small, always use a disposable e-mail address. These are e-mail addresses obtained from one of many free e-mail services that are everywhere on the Web. They cost nothing, and when an address inevitably becomes a spam magnet, it can be discarded and another one obtained easily.
