Avoiding MailTo Links
In order to avoid automated e-mail address harvesting, avoid the use of mailto: links. The mailto: link used on a webpage is a convenient way to enable readers of your page to mail you. It, however, also provides spammers with the easiest way to harvest your e-mail address, and should be avoided at all costs. Just because you cannot see the address from the displayed webpage does not mean that it is concealed in any way. Suggestions are to remove the “mailto” and force people to manually enter the email address.
Avoid any open references to your e-mail address. Your personal e-mail address should be private and for friends and family. Even in text, an e-mail address on a webpage is attainable to a spammer, since it can be interpreted as just what it is--an e-mail address. Since spammers cannot get a graphic e-mail address (nor can it even be detected as an e-mail address) by automatic e-mail address harvesting programs, it avoids exposing your e-mail address. If you don't use form mail with this device, the user will need to explicitly enter or record the entire e-mail address.
Make sure to read and understand forms asking for your address. When requesting services, purchasing products and services, etc., you are often asked for your e-mail address. Many of the companies doing the asking claim not to misuse your address. Rather than trust them, you can provide them with either a unique address that links any subsequent spam to them or a general address set up for such requests. In order to do this effectively, you probably must own a domain or at least have the ability to use multiple addresses. After you have done this, you can use e-mail filtering to sort the spam into the appropriate places.
