DO NOT post personal contact information in the public forums

[Mary F]

Adding a phone number or email address to your classified ad or inquiry might seem like a good idea, but it presents a strong possibility that your contact information will be harvested and used for marketing or spam.

Even though the moderating team removes personal contact information when we run across it, remember, copies of posts can linger as search engine hits for a long time...

Protect yourself by using the Private Messaging (PM) system and being sure your preferences are set to notify you by email if there is a new PM. (Be sure not to reply directly to the Notification, however. It won't go back to the sender: you'll need to follow the instructions to respond by PM, and you can then elect to share your contact info directly with the trusted recipient.)

Alternatively, you can adjust your settings in Messaging and Notification to Receive Email from Other Members to permit forum members to email you through the forum, thereby insulating you from the Spamming robots that spider the web.

[Roger C H]

Mary,

When I have to send my phone number, I write it out in words not digits.

Like: two zero six, five five five, one two three four.

I don't think the search engines looking for ten digits realize what that is.

Thoughts?

[Glenn Baglo]

Just curious. Is your phone number in the White Pages. Ever looked it up online in reverse directory?
I think there are much easier ways to obtain phone numbers, or they don't even bother. Computers just dial random numbers until they get an answer.

[Donna D.]

Grabbing data is big business. Bots still exist. It's up to you and your level of comfort to determine HOW/WHAT you're willing to share. Those that have apps and question "where is the nearest gas station..." where you are and what you asked is going into some data bank somewhere. And you wonder why when you log on to "some" webpage you see ads?

Safe travels, always... and be safe and secure

[mary and bob]

I've seen it done at least twice since these last warning posts from 2 days ago. (adding personal contact info)

[Glenn Baglo]

Originally Posted by Roger C H

Mary,

When I have to send my phone number, I write it out in words not digits.

Like: two zero six, five five five, one two three four.

I don't think the search engines looking for ten digits realize what that is.

Thoughts?

Computers can figure out from your posts what your interests are and target you with specific ads, so I'm sure they can figure out a disguised phone number. In fact, computers use 0s and 1s for everything and they can figure out that code.