To Those Using Real Addresses
 

I am afraid to use my real email address on this website, for fear I will start receiving tons of junk email. Before my email address changed (when my server was bought out), I had to delete about 4 out of 5 messages, as they were advertisements, and some of them rude. I have been so careful since then, and rarely get junk email, so far, at my new address.<BR><BR>So, what I'm wondering is, for those of you who use your real addresses, do you get lots of advertisements that you suspect are a result of your postings? Also, do you get unwanted nasty email from people getting your address off of this board? Or, do you find you actually communicate with people who are interested in sharing travel experiences, off board?

As you can see above, I give my real yahoo address. I don't get any spam from this site, but Yahoo does have a filter so maybe that's why. I have gotten more than a couple personal emails from people saying that either they appreciated my advice or that they had more questions. So I will continue to use my real address (one of them, anyhow).

I use my real hotmail address and have no problems. Maybe that is because of the hotmail filters - I'm not sure. I never use my ISP address on public boards.<BR><BR>Most days I receive between 1 and 3 e-mails from Fodorites asking for more detailed information or sharing anecdotes. I enjoy getting them . . . .

I have posted my real e-mail address close to 5000 times here on this forum. The junk mail problems I encounter seem to go in cycles. Some days 3-5, most days zero. I went through a flurry recently and it has almost totally gone away. One key thing is never open it, never respond to it. This helps it drop off more quickly, I think.<BR><BR>My hotmail address has been rendered virtually unusable by spam, by contrast. So, you are not necessarily paranoid to worry about this problem, as it can happen. but I do not believe that it originates with using your real e-mail address here. I have little or no reason to think that my hotmail spam problem is really coming from posting my e-mail address at this site.<BR><BR>I too get e-mail requests fairly often from people who write to me. I usually wait 2-3 days before answering them - - that I wish they would post the answers here - - and then I promise to answer their questions here in 24 hours or less. I do this because I believe so, SO strongly in the concept: PUBLIC answers to PUBLICly asked questions help many people. A private answer helps only one person. And I strongly support the "cross-examination" and tangential banter that often follows a question.<BR><BR>If I answered more people privately, I would inherently contribute here less. And then how would people know that I exist, to write to me?<BR><BR>As for nasty e-mail, I have only ever received one hate message. She knows who she is, and many other people have written to me, saying that she has sent similarly vitriolic/crazy messages to them as well.<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex Bickers<BR>Westerville, Ohio<BR>

I never get any spam from this site and do get a very occasional e-mail, which I am happy to answer.

I don't seem to get any spam from using this site, and I'm happy to reply to the occassional private emails asking for additional information or assistance.<BR><BR>PB

I used my real address the first time I posted and got loads of spam. I must admit to enjoying the day when I received offers to enlarge my breasts and lengthen my penis. They must think I'm a hermaphrodite.

Like others I get virtually NO spam and half a dozen direct emails a week. None have been nasty.<BR><BR>There was a guy in Florida who tried to sell art, but he was most courteous and on request took my address off his mailing list.<BR><BR>Just from watching what happens here, I think..those with an identifiably US based address get more spam than the rest of us, and those using internet based systems like yahoo and hotmail get more again.

Like others, I have hardly any spam. Recently I have enjoyed a few splendid lying tales from Nigeriajn fraudsters, and these I copy to the right part of Scotland Yard.<BR><BR>I agree that the peer review that happems on this forum, and the extra pouints people make, are of great value, but I do answer direct enquirers, who have taken my address from this forum. Sometimes I also copy the discussion to the forum, to get it checked, corrected and improved.<BR><BR>Ben Haines, London

Like others, I have hardly any spam. Recently I have enjoyed a few splendid lying tales from Nigerian fraudsters, and these I copy to the right part of Scotland Yard.<BR><BR>I agree that the peer review that happens on this forum, and the extra points people make, are of great value, but I do answer direct enquirers, who have taken my address from this forum. Sometimes I also copy the discussion to the forum, to get it checked, corrected and improved.<BR><BR>Ben Haines, London

I get tons of spam at my hotmail address, but I don't think it's from here as much as MSN's selling of its lists. After a particularly bad bout [700 emails from the same address all at once!!!] I set my junk to immediate deletion. <BR><BR>I'm also suspicious enough to think that MSN is making life unpleasant for us who won't pay for the service and who use Netscape. [evidence of the latter on request Wouldn't put it past them. Unfortunately my hotmail address is my main non-work one. I get hardly any spam at my yahoo address, but then I've never used that one publicly.

I started getting an incredible amount of junk mail not long after I started using this site. I stopped using my real e-mail, but the damage has apparently already been done. I too,use MSN. <BR><BR>The MSN filter is useless, apparently. E-mails from a local restaurant with which I signed up to receive weekly menus get sent to bulk mail, while porn messages that are keeping my hair curly get right through!<BR><BR>

<BR><BR>I have used my real (albiet not primary) address here for over a year and, so far, no spam that I can attribute to this site. As mentioned above, Yahoo does seem to have much more effective filters than others, particularly MSN.<BR><BR>I do receive e-mail from others on the board from time to time, but all in the spirit of helpfullness. <BR><BR>Rich <BR>

I've had this address for about two years now and I receive almost no junk mail or spam. I also have my cookies turned off and I never enter any chat rooms anywhere.<BR>As Rex mentioned, never open or respond to junk mail. Sometimes all they want to do is verify your email so they can send more junk. Also turn off your preview pane in Outlook. Sometimes an html message includes a graphic (maybe just one pixel) that sends your id to the server sending the graphic.<BR>Ron

my hotmail address receives anywhere from 6 to 30 spams during a portion of a day/night.This is with a filter,but I must check to see if e-cards etc get tossed by the filter,so I take a look.Almost every single junk mail is pornography/sex related or selling mortgages.<BR>Yahoo never gets spammed.<BR>My son,working in Asia,has to close his email address that he has had for years due to the amount of spam.<BR>Is this the price of "free" email??<BR>

Happily, in almost six years of posting to Fodors,I've never received junk mail, no doubt due to filters. I do receive significant correspondence (probably five to eight Emails a day) from prospective travelers with questions or feedback from those travelers to whom I had offered suggestions.<BR><BR>In many instances, I suggest that correspondents post their questions or concerns here as well to get diverse opinions or more objective responses than mine.

I use only my real name and email and in the three years or so of use here, I've only received a couple of ads that apparently came from here. I do have a pretty good filter on my earthlink address and get very few ads through it, so maybe that is the answer, but my email address used to be AOL and before that Gateway.net, and I really had no spam problems from here with those either. But I've received numerous thank-yous from people whose questions I have answered, and on the average I get maybe three emails a week, questioning me further on something I've posted about or asking for more advice. Yesterday I got a detailed Turkey trip report from someone for whom I had made some suggestions several months ago during his planning stages. I enjoy these. <BR><BR>Oh yes, and while traveling in California, I got a personal email from Al Hussey who asked if I'd like to attend a Fodorite gathering at his house in Long Beach. I said "yes" and met a lot of interesting people -- including Elvira for the second time, who actually flew in for the party that day.

Same stories here, same Florida art dealer (probably the ones that sell at cruise ship "auctions"), and little spam attributable to Fodors.

Patrick - which one were you? (at Art Hussey's getogether).

I always use my real email address, although I do have an alternate hotmail account. I got that one primarily for use out of the country.<BR>I really get very little junk mail here. I have actually received a couple of travel related emails from commercial sites that I have found very useful. I probably would not have come accross them on my own. And I also enjoy answering any questions that I get occasionally at home.<BR>I cannot tolerate the hotmail account very well as no matter how much I delete, filter, etc. it is just filled with garbage.

Check this post that was on another thread about Rex:<BR><BR>"Rex Bickers is indeed a physician. He is a neonatal/perinatal specialist. In other words he is a pediatrician and/or OB who specialized in neonatology/perinatology or the care of premature babies before and after they are born. How he has time to write on this board while doing a demanding job like that is beyond me. When you put your name out on a public forum like this, then people can find out things about you. Go to the Ohio State Medical Board and type in Bickers under search to find out more about Dr. Rex Bickers. I, for one, take my hat off to physicians like Rex as this is one of the most demanding and difficult fields in all of medicine. I don't believe you should use your real name or address on a public forum however.<BR><BR>Best Wishes Rex and keep up all the good work you do and the nice information you deliver here."<BR>

Rex, unlike the rest of us, has no compunctions at all about posting personal information online, including his address and the ages of his wife and daughters.<BR><BR>http://rexbickers.italy.com/

Go to Google and do a search of your email address. You might be surprised at what comes up. I had a number of things that came from newsletters of groups and committees that I am active with, although no postings from here, although I do sometimes use my real address. Then try a search of your name. However, in that case, you'll also get listings regarding other people who share your name.

<BR><BR>Just did a Google search of both primary and secondary addresses and found nuttin'<BR><BR>Guess I just ain't interesting 'nuf? ? <BR><BR>Rich

The adress I'm using is a real, but secondary one. I mostly use it for mail-lists, and seldom check it, mostly to delete its content. I didn't notice any increase in spam since I use it here. I never received hate mail. I sometimes receive a mail related to one of my post on a travel board, but usually only notice it long after it has been sent (I didn't check this adress during the three last weeks, for instance). So one could argue that this adress isn't exactly my *real* adress. <BR><BR><BR><BR>So, it has not been an issue for me but nevertheless I wouldn't give my main adress on this board, though.

I also get quite a lot of junk mail on this excite account, but that doesn't bother me one bit... I got this free excite account and just delete anything I don't like. I have a "proper" email address, that I just don't give out.

I rarely get spam, and am always happy to help with more info on specific inquiries. I agree with Rex and the other proponents of registration that it might help give the board a more civil tone. I'm always surprised at the amount of vitriol seemingly innocuous statements can generate.

It's quite easy to do a reverse lookup for someone's address, so whenever I mention on this forum that I'm planning to take a trip somewhere, I go anonymous to make sure I'm not notifying the world that I won't be home.

Sometimes I have a similar problem with other web sites - to get information you have to register and e-mail address is mandatory. I have 2 e-mails, one for Fodor's and such, one for friends only. Both get junk e-mail so I put both on exclusive filter - I get in my in-box only e-mail from the addresses in my address book. I get twice as much junk in my "junk" account as in the other one. I get a kick when I see in the subject "enlarge your penis" offered to a female. If I have time I look at the subject lines. If not Hotmail will clean them out in 7 days. <BR><BR>If I couldn't have 2 e-mails I would never post my real address here. If not for exclusive filter I wouldn't keep hotmail addresses.

Very little spam and the little I get is not from here (although some anonymous person threatened to spam me once - oh well!) :D

I don't give my full address cuz I'm too lazy to type the whole thing every time. I do try to give the whole thing if I'm giving a specific reference. It is a name I set up just cuz I got hooked on this forum.

When I'm willing to private-mail and continue a conversation or give in-detail information on a topic I am well versed on/in, then I post my real address.<BR><BR>Yes, I have shared travel experience, with a number of people "off board". And yes I do get more "travel related" junk mail in my Hotmail account along with all the other junk mail that's always come to it.

Thanks for your responses. I think I'll start a yahoo account and "go live." That is my next step!

Hi wondering,<BR>I post with my above address when I think someone might need further information and would like to get in touch with me.<BR>I have only gotten one email stating "I found your email on Fodor's"<BR>I blocked him and after that I have had no problems. I get junk all the time and it is filtered by Hotmail. I also get those enlarge your penis or get Ripped muscles....I am a middle aged female LOL! I also use aliases for some questions but very rarely. Good luck!

up to the top<BR>

I rarely use my real address. When I have it is when I have offered to give more specific advice. After a very nasty episode several years ago when I was bothered by a phone pest, I have only rarely given out phone numbers and my email address.However, I have recently opened up a second email account and am considering using it on fodors. The replies to this thread are quite reassuring!

You're doing the right thing.<BR>