Email harvesting is the process of gathering a large number of email addresses for the purpose of bulk emailing or spam. Spammers harvest email addresses through a variety of different techniques, such as hacking website, accessing contact lists and address books on hacked computers, and by buying email lists from other spammers. Email spam is a daily occurrence for most people, but the hassle of dealing with an overload of illegitimate emails can be easily avoided with a few simple precautions.
Share your Email Address Sparingly
If you have or use a website where your contact information is provided for clients or collaborators to conveniently connect with you online, chances are it is equally accessible to spammers and hackers. Examples include LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, web forums, and professional or personal webpages. While you don’t want to restrict your ability to connect with legitimate professionals online, you also don’t want to unnecessarily make your email address an easy target for spammers. For that reason it’s good to think about where you share your email address online.
If you decide that you do need to provide it online, one thing you can do is list your email address in a bot deterring fashion by changing the “@” to an “at” and the “.” into “dot”. Human readers will recognize your intention and make the switch when they are actually sending you an email, but bots won’t recognize the information as an email address. Another option is to turn your email address into an image, or use an email contact form on your website so users can reliably reach out without putting your contact information out there.
Fight Technology with Technology
Email obfuscation using JavaScript is another way to protect your email from harvesting. This works best on websites where you have control over the coding, but when you do JavaScript can make it so that email addresses appear scrambled when seen by harvesters. HTML also offers a similar obfuscation opportunity. It’s even possible to insert hidden elements within the address to make it look out of order. You can also prompt legitimate users to enter a correct CAPTCHA code to prove they are not a bot before sharing important information such as your email address. Such gateways, while not perfect, can certainly help filter out many of the spammers.
Using a CAN-SPAM notice on your website can also deter spammers from collecting your information. To enable prosecution of spammers under the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003, the website administrator must post a notice that states “the site or service will not give, sell, or otherwise transfer addresses maintained by such website or online service to any other party for the purposes of initiating, or enabling others to initiate, electronic mail messages.” This protects not only yourself but your website users as well.
For more critical information to help maintain your digital privacy, connect with a Happy Faces Records Management representative today.
