Hide That Email Address or Get Spammed

I made an error today, err, well actually an error many months back when this site was initially put together. I put my email address online.

Now I know that doesn’t sound like a big deal, and its not if your site isn’t getting any traffic. Recently however the site traffic has picked up, and I’m starting to get that wonderful spam email we all know and love.

What put me over the edge on this issue, and made me want to write about it was this bogus email I received from a spambot posing as Visa.

Dear Visa Cardholder,

Continuous Monitoring is an integral part of Visa's multiple layers of security. In addition to other fraud monitoring tools, we can often spot fraud based upon transactions on the card that are outside of cardholders typical purchasing pattern.
This allows us to spot fraudulent activity as quickly as possible and acts as an early-warning system to identify fraudulent activity.

During a recent checkout we detected suspicious activity and your Visa card may have been compromised. Fraudulent activity made it necessary to limit your card for online services.
Your Case ID Number is: DD7Q8QQ9EDR7
Conform to our security requirements and in order to continue online services with your card, we must validate your identity.

Please click here to verify your identity

Visa takes online security very seriously so that you can shop safely on the Internet. As part of our commitment to fighting fraud we have the right to investigate, prevent, or take action regarding illegal activities, suspected fraud, situations involving potential threats to the physical safety of any person, or violations of the terms and conditions for using Visa.

Sincerely,
Visa Customer Service.

© Copyright 2001-2009, Visa All Rights Reserved.

At first glance this looks fairly legitimate, the email address that it is from has Visa in the name though it is not from visa itself. I knew that was wrong right off the bat. Then it goes on how this is about security, and who doesn’t want to be secure? Then it says that my recent activity was suspicious and it scares you into thinking that your card has been compromised.

The email then references a bogus Case ID number. This is somewhat clever. However no company would give you a case id without you requesting it and then send that id number to you in an unsecured email like this. After that the usual sign of spam occurs. Bad grammar, or spelling.

“Conform to our security requirements and in order to continue online services...”

Visa is not going to send you something like this.

The bogus email then ends with a link, more stuff about security and then claims that it is Visa with their copyright and everything. This was a fairly good email scam and they work, because people are gullible.

No company will ever request that you verify your identity through email. They just won’t, and its because of spam like this. Never listen to anything you get through email unless you requested it. If something was wrong with your credit card or bank account or anything else then the company would call you directly, not send you a crappy email message. Don’t trust email.

So my email address is no longer available on the about page. It is still available on my personal bio page because I want to keep it somewhere. The ideal situation though is to hide all of your personal emails behind contact forms. I will be making that transition during this site’s scheduled redesign in the summer.

So what does a contact form do?

It works better than a direct email link because it requires no third party software and can be done very simply within the browser. When a user submits the contact form they are greeted by a security Captcha. These are simple for humans to pass but many spambots get confused.
Contact forms are also helpful because you often get more information from them than with direct emails. You get to ask direct questions of people before they even contact you. This limits the amount of pointless requests you receive. For a business it lets you know immediately if someone is serious or just browsing.

“I’m thinking about building a website, sometime in the future. Some other colleagues said I needed one. How long would it take and how much does it cost?”

“My company is looking to build a promotional site. It will be about 10 pages. Our budget is about $2000 and we want it up in two months.”

Which email do you think I take more seriously?

Contact forms are not hard to setup and come included with all of Inlet Media’s web designs.

Unfortunately this method is not a magic bullet and won't stop all spam but its a good and simple way to start protecting yourself. So be sure to keep your email address secure by hiding it with contact forms. Like other pieces of contact information, your email address should only be available to people you trust.