Question: Can I Stop Spammers From Doing This?

Hi Doug, I have a question--I own a website and some scammer is using part
of my address to send out spam it looks something like this:
@listings.mycompany'swebaddress.com---opposed to @mycompany'swebaddress.com.
They preface our address, unfortunately people think it is from us


They are in no way generated from us--how can I stop it?

Thanks,
Martin

Answer

Hi Martin. First, if you have contact forms on your website, (you know, forms that people type an email address and a message, and click submit, and a message is sent to you), you should look at the programming of those forms to make sure they aren't being "hijacked" by spammers. One way to do that is to temporarily disable the forms to see if the spam stops.

If that doesn't happen, then, yeah, it's just someone forging your domain into their emails. Can you do anything about that?

The sad answer is...no, not really.

If your site does not have a clearly stated and strict policy about spam, and how you will use visitors' email addresses, I would recommend that you get one written and posted. Then, when you hear complaints from people, you can not only assure them that the emails aren't from you, you can also send them a link to your privacy/spam policies, as a way of assuring them that you're not spamming.

I hope that's helpful. Good luck!