Protecting your email address...

Xyzzy · 2003-05-27, 21:11

If for some reason you have to post your email address in the forum, you might consider using a GIF rather than actually posting it... I can't guarantee you that spam bots are not scanning this forum, because I know they are...

The best solution is to tell people to private message you, or to send you email via the forum... If you have to send an attachment there is no way to do that, but if you use the forum email you can reply back to each other using your regular email program...

If you all need email graphics made or hosted just let me know, or if you have one already just upload it to the FTP server...

Here is an example... Note that it is not clickable... This is by design... Spam bots read HTML too...

http://www.teamprimerib.com/gif/email001.gif

Anyways, be careful what you post... An ounce of prevention is always better than a pound of cure...

Uncwilly · 2006-03-22, 20:46

Bad link.

ewmayer · 2006-03-23, 01:09

Simpler than posting a gif is to just obfuscate the e-mail so that a human can easily figure it out, but a typical 'bot won't, e.g. bite_me@foo.bar.org becomes

bite_me AT foo DOT bar DOT org

cheesehead · 2006-03-24, 20:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by ewmayer

bite_me AT foo DOT bar DOT org

... and just how long do you think it took someone to upgrade the typical 'bot to translate the character string " AT " to the string "@", and " DOT " to "." ?? (* grumble *)

Uncwilly · 2006-03-24, 21:55

what about something on this order:
me*mygroup,org
me©mygroup°org

people is smart than bots

potonono · 2006-03-25, 04:02

Stick with an address long enough and you will get spam. There is no avoiding it. I'm currently using spampal to filter incoming messages by ip. It's a little work to update it, but I find the public blacklists usually block more than I prefer.

Even if you never post your email address anywhere, do you think your isp doesn't have the right to sell their list of user email addresses? Some probably don't, but some probably do.

Mystwalker · 2006-03-27, 19:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by potonono

Even if you never post your email address anywhere, do you think your isp doesn't have the right to sell their list of user email addresses? Some probably don't, but some probably do.

I think it's much simpler. Everyone you send a mail has your e-mail address. Now, it takes only one of them to be careless* and your address can be spammed.

*Maybe getting spyware/trojan or sending a mail to a lot of recipients - the latter makes your mail address REALLY come around...

JuanTutors · 2006-03-28, 05:59

http://www.webgringa.com/encoder.htm

I tested it just now on the "preview post" and it works. Oddly, when you click preview post, it changes it to the non-ascii form, but it posts it in ascii form (so if you look at the source for the page all you see is ampersands and number symbols, etc. So if you click preview post, you'll have to re-paste the email address.

your@email.address

If you use it, use just the option "encode text but do not create link". Also, I would DEFINITELY do the stuff people said above.... things like

your (*AT*) email (*DOT*) address

or AT LEAST put a space before and after the "@" symbol.

ixfd64 · 2006-03-28, 06:35

Also I've heard that spam bots can submit spam into forms. Maybe we need to add a captcha for the "email this user" feature?

JuanTutors · 2006-03-28, 06:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by ixfd64

Also I've heard that spam bots can submit spam into forms. Maybe we need to add a captcha for the "email this user" feature?

In case you're like me and didn't know what captcha is:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captcha

I swear, though, if you just had a small text thing that says "type this letter ___ in the box next to this message (It'll help tell us you're human)" for most forums that's all you'd ever need. (Extremely simple captcha, I guess)

Ok I gotta use the word once more before I own it. Do you wanna play "captcha the flag"? (Get it? Boston accent. Best joke ever.)

JuanTutors · 2006-04-13, 04:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by dominicanpapi82

http://www.webgringa.com/encoder.htm

That site was hosted on my girlfriend's website, but she took it down so it is no longer available. In a fit of frustration, I decided to make a new site to host it. It's at http://www.addressmunger.com . Please visit it if you own a website anywhere. You'd probably find it useful.

2003-05-27, 21:11	#1
Xyzzy "Mike" Aug 2002 3×2,741 Posts	Protecting your email address... If for some reason you have to post your email address in the forum, you might consider using a GIF rather than actually posting it... I can't guarantee you that spam bots are not scanning this forum, because I know they are... The best solution is to tell people to private message you, or to send you email via the forum... If you have to send an attachment there is no way to do that, but if you use the forum email you can reply back to each other using your regular email program... If you all need email graphics made or hosted just let me know, or if you have one already just upload it to the FTP server... Here is an example... Note that it is not clickable... This is by design... Spam bots read HTML too... http://www.teamprimerib.com/gif/email001.gif Anyways, be careful what you post... An ounce of prevention is always better than a pound of cure...

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2006-03-22, 20:46	#2
Uncwilly 6809 > 6502 """"""""""""""""""" Aug 2003 101×103 Posts 2³×1,223 Posts	Bad link.

2006-03-23, 01:09	#3
ewmayer ∂²ω=0 Sep 2002 República de California 2D77₁₆ Posts	Simpler than posting a gif is to just obfuscate the e-mail so that a human can easily figure it out, but a typical 'bot won't, e.g. bite_me@foo.bar.org becomes bite_me AT foo DOT bar DOT org

2006-03-24, 21:55	#5
Uncwilly 6809 > 6502 """"""""""""""""""" Aug 2003 101×103 Posts 2³×1,223 Posts	what about something on this order: me*mygroup,org me©mygroup°org people is smart than bots

2006-03-25, 04:02	#6
potonono Jun 2005 USA, IL 193 Posts	Stick with an address long enough and you will get spam. There is no avoiding it. I'm currently using spampal to filter incoming messages by ip. It's a little work to update it, but I find the public blacklists usually block more than I prefer. Even if you never post your email address anywhere, do you think your isp doesn't have the right to sell their list of user email addresses? Some probably don't, but some probably do.

2006-03-28, 05:59	#8
JuanTutors Mar 2004 1033₈ Posts	http://www.webgringa.com/encoder.htm I tested it just now on the "preview post" and it works. Oddly, when you click preview post, it changes it to the non-ascii form, but it posts it in ascii form (so if you look at the source for the page all you see is ampersands and number symbols, etc. So if you click preview post, you'll have to re-paste the email address. your@email.address If you use it, use just the option "encode text but do not create link". Also, I would DEFINITELY do the stuff people said above.... things like your (AT) email (DOT) address or AT LEAST put a space before and after the "@" symbol.

2006-03-28, 06:35	#9
ixfd64 Bemusing Prompter "Danny" Dec 2002 California 2·5·239 Posts	Also I've heard that spam bots can submit spam into forms. Maybe we need to add a captcha for the "email this user" feature?