Have you ever wondered how spammers get your email address? How exactly do they get it and what do they do with it? Spammers are generally in violation of laws, rules and regulations and therefore really are thumbing their noses at us. While most Internet marketers use legal means to capture web email addresses such as permission-based opt-in websites and emails, spammers do not. These spammers have been known to create what are known as “spiders.” The software programs “crawl” through legitimate websites in search of any mailto: coding tags. This mailto: code is used in email addresses. This software program collects all these addresses, which then allows the spammer to use them to send junk messages. Unfortunately, these malicious programs are becoming so sophisticated that they can actually grab addresses that users are trying to conceal legitimately. Some spammers are able to grab addresses from mobile devices such as Droid cell phones or iPhones that contain email lists.

Other spam software is sent as a virus that installs itself on your computer. These so-called “worms” will steal information from your email contact list and send it back to the spammer’s server.

Reporting spam is almost a losing battle. It seems sometimes the more you report or bounce, the more you receive. You can use spam blocker services that will filter your emails. Some of these programs are extremely sophisticated and will also track and report spam. Many of these programs can stop the spam before it gets to you. These programs use tracking software for identifying the source email address rather than relying on filters to track the content of the email.

If you’re worried about these spiders getting your email address, only post online by putting “email_address AT server DOT com” so that the spiders cannot collect the email address. This is a common practice and people understand how to convert that into the proper email format.