According to rootsweb administrators boards,
emails can't be harvested there unless you
include your email address in the main body of
the message that you post to the board. OK, OK,
I hear you ROFLOL, but that is the standard
reply.
In AOL, I am not sure if they allow mass
mailings, like *(a)aol.com - that would account for
receving a lot of SPAM stuff... If aol allows
wildcards (where * means everyone with an AOL
account) that would account for all the emails
you are getting. Many email services have taken
away the wildcard ability due to SPAMMING in
bulk.
My solution is to use a YAHOO account for
genealogy... OK, so I still get some junk mail,
but the majority goes in the BULK MAIL which I
delete without opening. Any attachments with
viruses are deleted and you get a blank email,
without the virus. Yes, you still have to delete
them, but YAHOO will block their email forever
automatically. Then they just change email
addresses and try again - so while it may not
stop it all together, it does slow them down.
However, the recent rash of SPAM emails was from
a virus which (when infected), sends an infected
email to everyone in your address book. The best
way to avoid anyone mass sending from your
address book is to make an entry with the First
Name 0001 and the last name 001 - then leave the
email address blank. When the "virus" goes into
the address book, it literal becomes confused as
the first entry STOPS it in its tracks, since
there is no email address to copy...
Also, another good thing about having a YAHOO
account is that you can forward email from other
accounts to it, and use their virus screener...
I know this isn't exactly what you wanted to hear
- but remember - GOOD always overcomes EVIL.
Still in Wisconsin, enjoying the weather (NOT) -
it is wet, cold, and trying to rain...
R/S MAK
--- WIGEN-D-request(a)rootsweb.com wrote:
From: Czaplewska(a)aol.com
To: WIGEN-L(a)rootsweb.com
Subject: [WIGEN-L] Email question
Hi,
I thought I'd ask the pros..after AOL Techs
weren't much help really.
The last few days I have been getting emails
from AOL members (who really
aren't sending them) with attachments. I never
open them. Is there a way to
format your email address on the GenWeb sites
that make it more difficult for
the addresses to be harvested like I think they
are?
The only common denominator I have with any of
the people is genealogy. And
we don't know each other, never communicated
and the only places we go is
through GenWeb or Ancestry Message Boards...
Thanks!
Anne
=====
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MAK = "Mar sea ah Ann Keel"
Marcia Ann Kuehl
===========================
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