NOSPAMers in classifieds were right

[Garland]

Those of you selling parts (see, there is the technical aspect of this thread) in the VRCC classifieds are right in putting NOSPAM and the like in your email addresses. I listed something recently, using my regular email, and am paying the price now with an inundation of spam. I thought ya'll were just paranoid, but those $#@%& really are out to get us! I am just posting this as a warning to others not to make my mistake (I don't think it is quite as bad as the poor fellow who forgot to unlock his handlebars, though).

[JimL]

Actually it is better to use something other than NOSPAM.  The way spamming works is that a robot (computer program) is written to mine data from various sites.  The robot "replies" to ads using the address given in the ad, an actual human being (it is debatable as to whether "human being" applies to these scumbags) only gets involved when you respond back to the robots initial inquiry.  

Since NOSPAM is a common way to disguise the email address, many robots will look for and remove "NOSPAM" if it is encountered.  I prefer to use something the robot is not looking for such as DEATH2SPAMMERS, REMOVETHIS .... or something else that is unique but is obvious to a legitimate buyer.