FoodBanter.com - View Single Post - Periodic courtesy reminder, and Happy Pesach/Easter

in article , Leo Bueno at
wrote on 4/9/04 4:23 AM:

>
> You can avoid having your email address harvested from your messages
> by altering it so that it will be obvious to humans but will fool
> machines. See Dale's address below as an example. So, if your
> address is you can alter it to something like
> this:
>
> johndoe @ provider.com (note spaces around the @)
>
> EMOVETHIS
> OSPAM
>

Not wine related, but maybe w-h-i-n-e related:

For about a year I have only posted to newsgroups using a separate e-mail
account, not the one I use for business or regular e-mail. I still get 50+
spam e-mails a day on my regular account, whereas the newsgroup-only account
gets just one or two a day. I do a fair amount of Google-searching and I've
had conflicting advice as to whether or not it's possible for sites to pick
up my address if I only visit them (not filling out anything). One computer
tech told me it can be done and the site will sell the address on lists that
people buy to hawk whatever product...... usually viagra, debt management,
organ-enhancing products, various other schemes, etc..

Questions:

1. Anyone know, for sure, if sites can harvest your address that way?
2. Using Outlook Express, can I add something like "REMOVE" to my regular
(business) address and have it apply ONLY to newsgroup postings? Going
through the account set-up routine, it looks like there is only a single
address configuration possible for each account, so I'd have to use the
"REMOVE" even in business. Don't want to do that.
3. Any other thoughts on what might be generating the spam on the
non-newsgroup account? (I am one of the 3% using an Apple computer, so I've
found that many filter programs won't work for me.)

Thanks.