On Wed, 22 Oct 2003 02:29:03 GMT, "Mr Nobody" <nobody@neveremail.aaa>
wrote:

>Pardon me if this has been asked before and is the wrong newsgroup
for this
>question.
>
>I understand there is software out there that goes out to newsgroups
and
>"harvests" e-mail address from newsgroups for Spam and Virus sending.
I
>notice many people will post a question in a newsgroup (for example
the
>Windows XP group) and will get several Reponses from people trying to
help
>(Me included). Many times the question is repeated within the
answer, and
>many times it includes the real e-mail for the poster at the top or
bottom
>of the response. (Yes I've done it too) I know this feature can be
turned
>off but my question is----
>
>Does the "Harvest" software pick up the now publicly posted e-mail
>address????
>
>Yes, I know about the message properties also.
>
>Hope some here knows about this stuff
>
>TIA
>Mr. Nobody

You're talking about "spiders", which cull the Internet for anything
that looks like an email address. Yes, they exist, and are still
widely used. And, yes, they will pick up any publicly-posted email
address, and even some you'd think are private. There are some
countermeasures, such as using JavaScript or embedding your email
address in a graphic, or just plain 'ol munging your address.

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