There are two ways to create signatures, you can either use one of provided image templates or upload you own background images. In both cases the text can be customized it in terms of size, color, font and position.

Features:

• Generate email icons and signatures.
• Use provided background templates or upload your own image.
• Customize text, font, size and position.
• Save generated image onto your computer.
• Similar tools: EmailCover, HideText, EmailCover and Spam Proof Email Generator.

Check out NeedASig @ www.needasig.com

• New: Follow MakeUseOf on Twitter. Recommended!
• MakeUseOf 'Geeky Fun' - Hillarious Geeky Pics and Videos from different parts of web.

• MX Toolbox: Check If Your Email Is Blacklisted
• E-Mail Icon Generator: Email Address to Image Converter
• WhoCallsMe: Identify Unknown Callers
• WebAnti-Malware: Check If Your Site Is Blacklisted
• VidoopCAPTCHA: Get Image Based CAPTCHA For Your Site

You can use the various plugins it provides for Wordpress, Drupal and Ruby on Rails based sites to quickly integrate it with your site. Alternatively, you can get a code from their Google code library page and implement it yourself.

Features:

• Image based CAPTCHA service.
• Makes CAPTCHAs more secure and fun at the same time.
• Free to use and configure with your site.
• Use the plugins they provide or their source code to apply it to your site.
• Try sample captcha here.
• Similar website: MailHide ReCaptcha.

Check out VidoopCAPTCHA @ www.vidoop.com/captcha (By Abhijeet from Appscrazy)

• New: Follow MakeUseOf on Twitter. Recommended!
• MakeUseOf 'Geeky Fun' - Hillarious Geeky Pics and Videos from different parts of web.

• WebAnti-Malware: Check If Your Site Is Blacklisted
• xFruits: All In One RSS Feed Tools Website
• Wordpress Theme Generator: Create WordPress Themes
• Wordoid: Get Company Name Ideas
• WireNode : Create your Own Mobile Startpages

To use the website, simply paste email contents into provided field and hit “Search”. Is-This-A-Scam will search for the email contents on anti-frad websites and present its findings.

Features:

• Spot internet scams and hoaxes.
• Checks across 100 major anti-scam and anti-fraud sites.
• Free, no registration needed.
• Similar sites: Hoax-Slayer and SonicWALL. Also see 2 Sites to Verify Urban Legends & Email Scams.

Check out Is-This-A-Scam @ www.jasonmorrison.net/is-this-a-scam

• New: Follow MakeUseOf on Twitter. Recommended!
• MakeUseOf 'Geeky Fun' - Hillarious Geeky Pics and Videos from different parts of web.

• SonicWALL: Learn How To Identify Phishing Emails
• Hoax-Slayer: Expose Scams & Hoaxes
• Verify-eMail : Check Suspicious eMails. Real or Not.
• TinyMail: Protect your Email Address from Spam
• TheHTMLEncoder: Hide Email Address from Spam Bots

There are there ways you can use Login2.me to get logins:

1. Go to Login2.me and enter the URL of the website for which you wan to get a login.

2. Drag and drop provided bookmarklet on to your browser, and click it when you are on the site that requires login.

3. Simply type login2.me# in front of the site URL in address bar for example: login2.me#http://facebook.com.

If the given login details did not work, click on «Not working, show more» and more logins will be displayed.

Features:

• Get free logins for websites when you don’t want to register yourself.
• No limit on the number of login details you can request.
• Claims to cover all popular websites with more being added on a daily bases.
• Option to report non-working accounts.
• Similar websites: BugMeNot.

Check out Login2.me @ www.login2.me

• New: Follow MakeUseOf on Twitter. Recommended!
• MakeUseOf 'Geeky Fun' - Hillarious Geeky Pics and Videos from different parts of web.

• BugMeNot – Disposable Login Details
• Vanishd: Hide your Web Surfing from Prying Eyes of Co-workers
• ThePrintliminator: Print Only What You Want
• TemporaryInbox: Temporary Email Forwarding
• TempInBox: Temporary Email Account

You just need to type in the email address and click the encode button to get the code. And then paste the code where you are planning to put your email address.

Note:  This technique is not a foolproof solution, a spambot intelligent enough could have the ability to crack this code, but this is WAY MORE safer than just writing the address.

Features:

• Web based email address encoder.
• Works on all the browsers.
• No sign up required.
• Similar tools: TheHTMLEncoder, The Enkoder Form, SpamProofEmailGenerator and HideText.

Check out MailTo Encoder @ www.mailtoencoder.com (By Abhijeet from Jeet Blog)

• New: Follow MakeUseOf on Twitter. Recommended!
• MakeUseOf 'Geeky Fun' - Hillarious Geeky Pics and Videos from different parts of web.

• TinyMail: Protect your Email Address from Spam
• TheHTMLEncoder: Hide Email Address from Spam Bots
• The Enkoder Form: Email Address Encryption Tool
• SonicWALL: Learn How To Identify Phishing Emails
• Scr.im: Protect Email Address from Bots

Now you can easliy check if your email address is on one of these blacklists using a tool called BlacklistCheck. The application lets you quickly check a number of major DNS blacklists (Sorbs, Spamhaus, NJABL, DSBL, CBL and PSBL) for a given IP address or hostname and find out whether it is on a blacklist.

Features:

• Check if your email address is on a spam blacklist.
• Checks major DNS blacklists such us Sorbs, Spamhaus, NJABL, DSBL, CBL and PSBL.
• Free, no sign up needed.
• Similar tool: MXToolbox.

Check out Blacklist Check @ www.websitepulse.com/help/testtools.dbl-test.html

• New: Follow MakeUseOf on Twitter. Recommended!
• MakeUseOf 'Geeky Fun' - Hillarious Geeky Pics and Videos from different parts of web.

• Verify-eMail : Check Suspicious eMails. Real or Not.
• TinyMail: Protect your Email Address from Spam
• TheHTMLEncoder: Hide Email Address from Spam Bots
• The Enkoder Form: Email Address Encryption Tool
• TemporaryInbox: Temporary Email Forwarding

You can log into to TweetBlocker using your Twitter credentials and get a personal spam report. It also provides a bookmarklet named ‘ Report Spammer ‘ which can help you quickly report a spam twitter account to them.

Features

• Identify the spammers and clean up twitter followers.
• Unfollow or block the spammers once you know them.
• Get a personal spam report by logging into the tool.
• Use Report Spammer bookmarklet to quickly report a spammer.
• Similar site:  TwitChuck and MyCleenr.

Check out TweetBlocker @ www.tweetblocker.com [via ReadWriteWeb] (by Abhijeet from Jeet Blog)

• New: Follow MakeUseOf on Twitter. Recommended!
• MakeUseOf 'Geeky Fun' - Hillarious Geeky Pics and Videos from different parts of web.

• TwitChuck: Identify Twitter Spammers
• Kissa.be: Shorten Long Links & Protect ‘mailto’ Links
• Yammer – A Twitter For Businesses and Enterprises
• wwwitter: See Twitter Discussions For Any Webpage
• WhoCallsMe: Identify Unknown Callers

Features:

• Identify Twitter spammers.
• Provides you list of reasons why you should (or not) follow someone.
• Quick and simple to easy.

Check out TwitChuck @ www.twitchuck.com

• New: Follow MakeUseOf on Twitter. Recommended!
• MakeUseOf 'Geeky Fun' - Hillarious Geeky Pics and Videos from different parts of web.

• TweetBlocker: Block Twitter Spammers
• Kissa.be: Shorten Long Links & Protect ‘mailto’ Links
• Yammer – A Twitter For Businesses and Enterprises
• wwwitter: See Twitter Discussions For Any Webpage
• WhoCallsMe: Identify Unknown Callers

The blacklist monitoring feature is completely free, however the site also provides premium malware attack monitoring option as well.

Features:

• Online blacklist monitor.
• Get alerts if your site is blacklisted.
• Monitor as many sites as you like.
• URLs are scanned against the Google, Firefox, Chrome and Norton Safe Web blacklists.
• Receive weekly blacklist monitoring reports.
• Similar tools: UnmaskParasites.

Check out WebAnti-Malware @ www.wam.dasient.com/wam

• New: Follow MakeUseOf on Twitter. Recommended!
• MakeUseOf 'Geeky Fun' - Hillarious Geeky Pics and Videos from different parts of web.

• VidoopCAPTCHA: Get Image Based CAPTCHA For Your Site
• UnmaskParasites: Online Website Security Audit
• Sucuri: Free Website Security Monitoring
• xFruits: All In One RSS Feed Tools Website
• Wordoid: Get Company Name Ideas

So if you received a strange phone call, enter the phone number into the field and click “Get Details”. If this number was reported before, you can read related user comments and share your own experience. If the number was not reported, leave your comments online so that others can benefit from this information.

Features:

• Identify strange callers online by looking up the phone number.
• Search user reports and read comments from those who received calls from the same number.
• Report strange phone numbers.
• Similar websites: NumberZoom and EveryCall.us

Check out WhoCallsMe @ www.whocallsme.com

• New: Follow MakeUseOf on Twitter. Recommended!
• MakeUseOf 'Geeky Fun' - Hillarious Geeky Pics and Videos from different parts of web.

• PhoneSpamFilter: Stop Telemarketing Phone Calls
• NumberZoom: Trace Unknown Caller IDs and Telemarketers
• EveryCall.us: Easily Trace Calls From Unknown Numbers
• TrapCall: Lets You View Blocked Caller ID
• TemporaryInbox: Temporary Email Forwarding

If some website is asking for your email to send you a one-time newsletter or some offer etc., just give them any random email address (ex: receive-newsletter-may19-2009@dodgit.com) And then come back later to Dodgit and check for all the emails sent to that particular address.

The down side of this is that anyone who knows or guesses your temporary username can access your emails. So make sure to pick the something only you would know. You can check your emails from the website or through the RSS feed.

Features:

• Get an instant disposable inbox to receive emails.
• No need for to choose username, password or remember a unique URL
• Check emails for any username.
• Access your emails from the website or via RSS feed.

Check out Dodgit @ www.dodgit.com

• New: Follow MakeUseOf on Twitter. Recommended!
• MakeUseOf 'Geeky Fun' - Hillarious Geeky Pics and Videos from different parts of web.

• TemporaryInbox: Temporary Email Forwarding
• TempInBox: Temporary Email Account
• StopForwarding: Ask Friends to Stop Spamming your Email
• SpamGourmet : Spam Blocker for your eMail
• MakeMeTheKing: Free Temporary Anonymous Email Boxes

So whenever you receive an email and heard about something that you aren’t not sure about make sure to visit the website and see if it’s been reported by someone earlier. If it’s popular you’re likely to find it on that website, you may then view its hoax status (true/false) and read more details.

Features:

• Verify popular Internet hoaxes and expose scams: email chain letters, fake charity runs, celebrity death news and others.
• Search for scam emails or browse by categories.
• Verify the hoax status (true/false) and read the detailed commentary

Check out Hoax Slayer @ www.hoax-slayer.com

• New: Follow MakeUseOf on Twitter. Recommended!
• MakeUseOf 'Geeky Fun' - Hillarious Geeky Pics and Videos from different parts of web.

• SonicWALL: Learn How To Identify Phishing Emails
• Is-This-A-Scam: Identify Internet Scams and Hoaxes
• Verify-eMail : Check Suspicious eMails. Real or Not.
• TinyMail: Protect your Email Address from Spam
• TheHTMLEncoder: Hide Email Address from Spam Bots

Firstly, it is very simple. You just enter your email and provider and press “Generate”. No need to choose text size, font and it doesn’t mask your address behind a captcha or some weird javascript code.

Secondly, it generates a pleasant email image branded with a provider’s logo. If your email service is not listed you can create your custom image.

Features:

• Protect your email address from spam bots by converting it into a picture.
• Get email address as an image branded with email provider’s logo.
• Similar services HideText, EmailCover and Spam Proof Email Generator.

Check out Email Icon Generator @ http://services.nexodyne.com/email

• New: Follow MakeUseOf on Twitter. Recommended!
• MakeUseOf 'Geeky Fun' - Hillarious Geeky Pics and Videos from different parts of web.

• NeedASig: Generate Cool Email Signatures & Icons
• MX Toolbox: Check If Your Email Is Blacklisted
• WhoCallsMe: Identify Unknown Callers
• WebAnti-Malware: Check If Your Site Is Blacklisted
• VidoopCAPTCHA: Get Image Based CAPTCHA For Your Site

You just enter the domain name of your email and it automatically identifies IP addresses of the existing mail servers for that domain (also called MX records) and lets you check them against 147 DNS based email blacklists. If your mail server is on any of these black lists you will see it as “LISTED” in the Status column.

There is also an additional “Diagnostics” tab that lets you measure your mail server’s response time performance.

Features:

• Check if your corporate or personal email is added to one of 147 popular email black lists
• Test your email server’s response time
• Free, no sign up

Check out MX Toolbox @ www.mxtoolbox.com

• New: Follow MakeUseOf on Twitter. Recommended!
• MakeUseOf 'Geeky Fun' - Hillarious Geeky Pics and Videos from different parts of web.

• NeedASig: Generate Cool Email Signatures & Icons
• E-Mail Icon Generator: Email Address to Image Converter
• WhoCallsMe: Identify Unknown Callers
• WebAnti-Malware: Check If Your Site Is Blacklisted
• VidoopCAPTCHA: Get Image Based CAPTCHA For Your Site

Here is how it works:

1. Enter your email
2. Pick a short URL for your email (optional)
3. Press on “Protect my email” button
4. Receve the URL that you can share online instead of your email

When someone clicks on the URL say http://scr.im/111, they will be able to reveal your email after a simple test that automated bots and spiders can’t pass.

Features:

• Protect email address from spammers when sharing it online.
• Your email will be converted in to a short URL.
• Free and no registration.
• Similar tool: Kissa.be

Check out Scr.im @ www.scr.im

• New: Follow MakeUseOf on Twitter. Recommended!
• MakeUseOf 'Geeky Fun' - Hillarious Geeky Pics and Videos from different parts of web.

• TinyMail: Protect your Email Address from Spam
• TheHTMLEncoder: Hide Email Address from Spam Bots
• The Enkoder Form: Email Address Encryption Tool
• SonicWALL: Learn How To Identify Phishing Emails
• MailToEncoder: Encode Email Address To Prevent Spam

The quiz will present you with 10 questions containing email screenshots. You would need to decide if the email is legit or phishing. When the quiz is complete, you get to see your score and also check the reason why is your answer correct or wrong.

Features:

• Online phishing email test.
• Shows how to identify phishing and spam emails.
• Free and no sign up.

Check out SonicWALL @ www.sonicwall.com/phishing

• New: Follow MakeUseOf on Twitter. Recommended!
• MakeUseOf 'Geeky Fun' - Hillarious Geeky Pics and Videos from different parts of web.

• TinyMail: Protect your Email Address from Spam
• TheHTMLEncoder: Hide Email Address from Spam Bots
• The Enkoder Form: Email Address Encryption Tool
• Scr.im: Protect Email Address from Bots
• MailToEncoder: Encode Email Address To Prevent Spam

Features

• Mask your email address by converting it to image.
• Image is a CAPTCHA so that even advanced spam bots can’t read it.
• Get a personal and direct image url.
• Get various text and image links and codes to use on websites and forums.
• Similar sites: SpamProofEmailGenerator, TheHTMLEncoder and HideText.

Check out Email Cover @ www.emailcover.com (by Abhijeet from Appscrazy)

• New: Follow MakeUseOf on Twitter. Recommended!
• MakeUseOf 'Geeky Fun' - Hillarious Geeky Pics and Videos from different parts of web.

• Verify-eMail : Check Suspicious eMails. Real or Not.
• TinyMail: Protect your Email Address from Spam
• TheHTMLEncoder: Hide Email Address from Spam Bots
• The Enkoder Form: Email Address Encryption Tool
• TemporaryInbox: Temporary Email Forwarding

TemporaryInbox offers two ways to protect your email from spam. First, it gives you temporary inbox email accounts that can be used for suspicious sites ande delted at any time. Additionally, there are temporary forwarding accounts that merely redirect incoming email to your real address.

1) Temporary inbox for incoming mail

You can get a temporary email address right from the main page (see picture below). It works the same way as any usual email address and can be used anywhere. The only difference is that all incoming emails to this address are deleted automatically after 6 hours. To check for incoming mails just enter your temporary address into provided field and click “Go”. There is also a Firefox browser add-on that lets you check your temporary inbox right from the browser toolbar.

2) Temporary forwarding

Forwarding account lets you create an email that forwards all of your incoming emails to your real email address. This account can be easily deleted at any time.

Features:

• Protect your private email from spam by using disposable email accounts
• 2 types of accounts available: temporary inbox email and temporary forwarding.
• Download the Firefox browser plugin to access temporary inbox right from the browser toolbar.
• No registration needed.
• Similar websites: MakeMeTheKing, MeltMail and TempInBox.

Check out TemporaryInbox @ www.temporaryinbox.com

• New: Follow MakeUseOf on Twitter. Recommended!
• MakeUseOf 'Geeky Fun' - Hillarious Geeky Pics and Videos from different parts of web.

• MakeMeTheKing: Free Temporary Anonymous Email Boxes
• Dodgit: Instant Disposable Inbox
• TempInBox: Temporary Email Account
• StopForwarding: Ask Friends to Stop Spamming your Email
• SpamGourmet : Spam Blocker for your eMail

There is a Basic Form for most users, and if you are familiar with HTML you can use the Advanced Form. Here is how it works:

Step 1

1. Enter your actual email address
2. Enter address you want to be visible to visitors
3. Enter Link title and subject line (optional)
4. Press “Enkode it”.

Step 2

You will get an ugly javascript code (see below). Copy it and insert it in the source of your HTML code. Done!

Your site visitors will see this:

Features:

• Email address encryptor.
• Protect your email address from spam bots.
• Encrypt it into a Javascript code using Enkoder form.
• Hides email from spam bots, shows it to real people.
• Basic Form for most users, Advanced form for those familiar with HTML.
• Free, no registration.
• Similar sites: TheHTMLEncode, SpamProofEmailGenerator and HideText.

Check out TheEnkoderForm @ www.hivelogic.com/enkoder

• New: Follow MakeUseOf on Twitter. Recommended!
• MakeUseOf 'Geeky Fun' - Hillarious Geeky Pics and Videos from different parts of web.

• TinyMail: Protect your Email Address from Spam
• TheHTMLEncoder: Hide Email Address from Spam Bots
• SonicWALL: Learn How To Identify Phishing Emails
• Send: Securely Send Sensitive Information Online
• Scr.im: Protect Email Address from Bots

How it works:

1. Sign up with the service
2. Key in provided numbers in your cellphone
3. When you a receive a call from a blocked number, just reject it.
4. The number is sent to the company server, unmasked and sent back to your voicemail.

Features:

• Reveal blocked phone number of the caller.
• No need to download additional software or hardware.
• Use basic service free or sign up for paid plans for additional features.
• Works with all cellphones, supported by AT&T and T-Mobile. Other carriers to follow.
• Currently available only in the US

Check out TrapCall @ www.trapcall.com

• New: Follow MakeUseOf on Twitter. Recommended!
• MakeUseOf 'Geeky Fun' - Hillarious Geeky Pics and Videos from different parts of web.

• WhoCallsMe: Identify Unknown Callers
• TemporaryInbox: Temporary Email Forwarding
• PhoneSpamFilter: Stop Telemarketing Phone Calls
• NumberZoom: Trace Unknown Caller IDs and Telemarketers
• GreenDimes: Reduce Postal JunkMail & Stay Green

The process is really easy, just enter your email address and click on “encode”. The site will encode your email and email you a peace of code that you can paste onto the page where you want the contact/email link to appear. Your email will appear in text but most of spam bots should not be able to see it. As simple as that!

Features:

• Tool for hiding email address from spam bots.
• Encode as many emails as you want.
• No registration and free.
• Similar tools: SpamProofEmailGenerator and HideText.

Check out TheHTMLEncoder @ www.siteup.com/encoder

• New: Follow MakeUseOf on Twitter. Recommended!
• MakeUseOf 'Geeky Fun' - Hillarious Geeky Pics and Videos from different parts of web.

• TinyMail: Protect your Email Address from Spam
• The Enkoder Form: Email Address Encryption Tool
• SonicWALL: Learn How To Identify Phishing Emails
• Scr.im: Protect Email Address from Bots
• MailToEncoder: Encode Email Address To Prevent Spam

It can be quite helpful for getting additional information on unknown numbers/IDs when you’re continuously being harassed by some telemarketer or collection agency. Moreover it gives an opportunity to check if there are other people experiencing same problem and whether anyone knows the location and contact details for that agency.

Being a wiki site NumberZoom also lets you add to the service by sharing your experience and contributing any additional information you might know regarding particular caller.

Features:

• User-created phone directory for telemarketer and other nuisance callers.
• Search and trace unknown caller IDs.
• See what others have said about that number.
• Contribute by sharing your experience and editing the existing content (sign up needed).
• Other similar websites: PhoneSpamFilter, CallerComplaints, DoNotCall and WhoCalled.US

Check out NumberZoom @ www.numberzoom.com

• New: Follow MakeUseOf on Twitter. Recommended!
• MakeUseOf 'Geeky Fun' - Hillarious Geeky Pics and Videos from different parts of web.

• WhoCallsMe: Identify Unknown Callers
• PhoneSpamFilter: Stop Telemarketing Phone Calls
• EveryCall.us: Easily Trace Calls From Unknown Numbers
• TrapCall: Lets You View Blocked Caller ID
• TemporaryInbox: Temporary Email Forwarding

There are two account options available, Free and Premium. The free account provides you with instructions and tells you what to do, which means you need to do everything yourself. The premium account on the hand can handle the hassle for you. You might also want to check Catalog Choice and ProQuo, maybe these guys have even better free account option.

How does GreenDimes free account works ?

• 1. Register and provide GreenDimes with your name and mailing address.
• 2. Log in to your GreenDimes account and select the mailers you want to stop.
• 3. Get removal instructions for each mailer/spammer.
• 4. Note, it may take upto 90 days for mailings to stop.

Go to GreenDimes @ www.greendimes.com

• New: Follow MakeUseOf on Twitter. Recommended!
• MakeUseOf 'Geeky Fun' - Hillarious Geeky Pics and Videos from different parts of web.

• CatalogChoice: Reduce Catalog Spam
• Catalog Choice: Opt Out of Catalog Mailings
• WhoCallsMe: Identify Unknown Callers
• TrapCall: Lets You View Blocked Caller ID
• TemporaryInbox: Temporary Email Forwarding

EveryCall.us is a website which lets you easily track such unknown numbers and also it lets you get more information about such numbers by letting you see who has commented about it in the past. Once you find out who exactly called you up, you can take further action. You may also post the number online for the benefit of others.

This website also maintains a top 100 list of annoying numbers (spammers) which you can download in CSV format to your computer. You can always take preemptive action by blocking such numbers in your phone.

Also check similar web services (US only) we have reviewed earlier:

* CallerComplaints – Database of Telemarketer Phone Numbers
* PhoneSpamFilter – Stop Telemarketing Phone Calls
* WhoCalled.US Tells You About That Call You Missed
* DoNotCall: Remove your Phone Number from Telemarketing Lists

Check out EveryCall.us @ www.everycall.us ( Contributed by Abhijeet from Jeet Blog )

• New: Follow MakeUseOf on Twitter. Recommended!
• MakeUseOf 'Geeky Fun' - Hillarious Geeky Pics and Videos from different parts of web.

• WhoCallsMe: Identify Unknown Callers
• PhoneSpamFilter: Stop Telemarketing Phone Calls
• NumberZoom: Trace Unknown Caller IDs and Telemarketers
• TrapCall: Lets You View Blocked Caller ID
• TemporaryInbox: Temporary Email Forwarding

Features:

• Anonymously and politely ask your friend to stop spamming your inbox.
• Send as many emails as you like.
• No sign up or registration needed.

Check out the sample email below

Visit StopForwarding.us @ www.stopforwarding.us

• New: Follow MakeUseOf on Twitter. Recommended!
• MakeUseOf 'Geeky Fun' - Hillarious Geeky Pics and Videos from different parts of web.

• TemporaryInbox: Temporary Email Forwarding
• Dodgit: Instant Disposable Inbox
• Verify-eMail : Check Suspicious eMails. Real or Not.
• TinyMail: Protect your Email Address from Spam
• TheHTMLEncoder: Hide Email Address from Spam Bots

1. Shorten long links to smaller ones for use in emails, etc.
2. Protect your ‘mailto’ links from being exposed to spam bots.
3. Get link for the text that you want to share on sites with max. character limitations (like Twitter).

Features:

• Shorten long URLs and protect mailto links.
• Protect mailto links.
• Post Twitter messages longer then 140 characters
• Generate as many links as you like.
• No sign up or registration needed.
• Firefox plugin available.

Check out Kissa.be @ www.kissa.be (via bildirgec.org)

• New: Follow MakeUseOf on Twitter. Recommended!
• MakeUseOf 'Geeky Fun' - Hillarious Geeky Pics and Videos from different parts of web.

• TinyPaste : Quickly Get Shareable URL for any Text
• WhisperBot: Securely Pass Important Messages Online
• Verify-eMail : Check Suspicious eMails. Real or Not.
• Untiny: Extract the Original URL Behind The Short URL
• Unhid: Reveal URLs Behind Short Links

TinyMail intends to prevent spam mail and protect your email address by masking your email and generating a pseudo look for your original email. The website’s interface is very simple and it has a bar where it asks you to enter the email address which you intend to protect.

Once you enter your email address and hit protect it, you get three different formats of your email which can be used on websites, forums or just as a link.

This service could be indeed useful in reducing the amount of spam which breaks into your inbox everyday. You might also check out other websites that can help you fight spam here.

Check out TinyMail @ www.tinymail.me ( Contributed by Abhijeet from Jeet Blog )

• New: Follow MakeUseOf on Twitter. Recommended!
• MakeUseOf 'Geeky Fun' - Hillarious Geeky Pics and Videos from different parts of web.

• TheHTMLEncoder: Hide Email Address from Spam Bots
• The Enkoder Form: Email Address Encryption Tool
• SonicWALL: Learn How To Identify Phishing Emails
• Scr.im: Protect Email Address from Bots
• MailToEncoder: Encode Email Address To Prevent Spam

The Filzmail email works perfect and you can receive and reply mails through it temporarily. It also goes a step further and lets you subscribe to the RSS feed of your Filzmail email account.

However, it’s important to note that Filzmail records IP addresses and the related data. Hence it cannot be used to send anonymous email mesages.

Check out Filzmail @ www.filzmail.com. ( Contributed by Abhijeet from Jeet Blog )

• New: Follow MakeUseOf on Twitter. Recommended!
• MakeUseOf 'Geeky Fun' - Hillarious Geeky Pics and Videos from different parts of web.

• TempInBox: Temporary Email Account
• SpamGourmet : Spam Blocker for your eMail
• BugMeNot – Disposable Login Details
• TemporaryInbox: Temporary Email Forwarding
• ProQuo: Remove Personal Info. from Marketing Lists

When you get a call from a telemarketer, go to the website and search for the phone number. If someone has already reported the number you can see what they say about it. In case you can’t find the number you might also try checking it on WhoCalled.US and CallerComplaints.

It further allows you to browse reported numbers by area code (see screenshot below). There is also a recent submissions sections showing latest complaints.

Other Features

• Reverse phone number lookup
• Request removal of incorrectly submitted phone numbers.
• Free scripts to automate telemarketer blocking on your PBX system.
• Watch funny pranks and videos about telemarketing calls.

While PhoneSpamFilter can help you find out who is calling you it doesn’t provide any simple means to block them. One way to block or at least considerably reduce the number of calls is to add your number to Telemarketing Do Not Call List.

Check out PhoneSpamFilter @ www.phonespamfilter.com

• New: Follow MakeUseOf on Twitter. Recommended!
• MakeUseOf 'Geeky Fun' - Hillarious Geeky Pics and Videos from different parts of web.

• WhoCallsMe: Identify Unknown Callers
• NumberZoom: Trace Unknown Caller IDs and Telemarketers
• EveryCall.us: Easily Trace Calls From Unknown Numbers
• TrapCall: Lets You View Blocked Caller ID
• TemporaryInbox: Temporary Email Forwarding

Once you have signed up, search for catalogs you no longer wish to receive and “decline” them. Catalog Choice will then contact the merchant companies and request that your name and address is removed from their mailing lists. The site counts nearly 1 million members and over 13 million processed opt out requests.

Features

• Opt out of merchant catalogs that you no longer wish to receive.
• It can take up to 10 weeks for opt out request to be processed.
• Suggest missing catalogs to be included in the database.
• Available only within the United States.

Go to CatalogChoice @ www.catalogchoice.org

• New: Follow MakeUseOf on Twitter. Recommended!
• MakeUseOf 'Geeky Fun' - Hillarious Geeky Pics and Videos from different parts of web.

• GreenDimes: Reduce Postal JunkMail & Stay Green
• WhoCallsMe: Identify Unknown Callers
• TrapCall: Lets You View Blocked Caller ID
• TemporaryInbox: Temporary Email Forwarding
• ProQuo: Remove Personal Info. from Marketing Lists

How does it work?

(1) Register and create an akapost email for example JBlack@akapost.com and associate it with the email, i.e. JBlack@gmail.com that you do not want to be exposed.

(2) Say you want to send an email to someone at blahblah@gmail.com and do not want your actual email to be seen. In that case, simply append the “.akapost.com” to this mail address “blahblah@gmail.com.akapost.com“ and send it.

(3) The message will be then redirected to Akapost where your actual email (JBlack@gmail.com) details will be substituted with the one from Akapost (em>JBlack@akapost.com) and then then sent to the recipient.

(4) When the recipient sends a reply, it first goes to your Akapost email and then gets redirected to your actual email.

Features:

• Keep your email private.
• Free account lets your create one akapost email address and protect one your actual email adddress, premium accounts also available.
• Check out the getting started guide here.

Akapost is not the first service that aims to solve the spam problem, see MakeUseOf email spam category for more such websites.

Go to Akapost @ www.akapost.com

• New: Follow MakeUseOf on Twitter. Recommended!
• MakeUseOf 'Geeky Fun' - Hillarious Geeky Pics and Videos from different parts of web.

• TemporaryInbox: Temporary Email Forwarding
• WhoCallsMe: Identify Unknown Callers
• Verify-eMail : Check Suspicious eMails. Real or Not.
• Vanish: Protect Sensitive Data with Self-destructing Messages
• TrapCall: Lets You View Blocked Caller ID

How does it work? It takes about 30 seconds to set it up. First, enter your email address in to the provided field and click “protect it”. Next copy and paste the generated code to the place where you want to have the email link. Done, ReCaptcha will do the rest.

If you have a Wordpress-powered blog then you can also make use of its Wordpress plugin for blocking automated spam comments.

Features:

• Hide your email from spammers that try to get your email through spam bots.
• Embed the address on your blog or social networking profile.
• Other: Get reCAPTCHA WordPress plugin that uses CAPTCHA to prevent comment spam.

See it in action: b.ob…@makeuseof.com

Visit MailHide ReCaptcha @ mailhide.recaptcha.net (Thanks Mubeena)

• New: Follow MakeUseOf on Twitter. Recommended!
• MakeUseOf 'Geeky Fun' - Hillarious Geeky Pics and Videos from different parts of web.

• Verify-eMail : Check Suspicious eMails. Real or Not.
• TinyMail: Protect your Email Address from Spam
• TheHTMLEncoder: Hide Email Address from Spam Bots
• The Enkoder Form: Email Address Encryption Tool
• TemporaryInbox: Temporary Email Forwarding

Aditionally, CallerComplaints offers a free and easy way to file a public complaint against any phone number that spams you. Keep in mind though these complaints have almost no legal power over the telemarketers. For more effective complains you might want to try National Do Not Call Registry.

Features

• Find out more information about any phone number that spams you.
• See if anyone reported it before and how many people compained about it.
• Read recently filed complaints.
• Check out most searched numbers: last 7 days, last month, all time.
• Contribute by reporting telemerketer phone numbers.
• File pubic complaints against any number.

Check out CallerComplaints @ www.callercomplaints.com

• New: Follow MakeUseOf on Twitter. Recommended!
• MakeUseOf 'Geeky Fun' - Hillarious Geeky Pics and Videos from different parts of web.

• DoNotCall: Remove your Phone Number from Telemarketing Lists
• WhoCallsMe: Identify Unknown Callers
• TempInBox: Temporary Email Account
• SpamGourmet : Spam Blocker for your eMail
• ProQuo: Remove Personal Info. from Marketing Lists

How does it work ?

• Enter up to three phone numbers and your email address.
• Check for errors and click register.
• Check your email for DoNotCall confirmation message.

Features

• Remove your phone numbers from telemarketing lists.
• Register from the website or by calling registry’s toll-free number (1-888-382-1222).
• Option to remove your number from DoNotCall registry at any time.
• File complaint against telemarketer
• National DoNotCall registry meant for personal numbers only.

Note: Do Not Call Registry will stop most telemarketing calls, but not all. Because of limitations in the jurisdiction of the FTC and FCC, calls from or on behalf of political organizations, charities, and telephone surveyors would still be permitted, as would calls from companies with which you have an existing business relationship, or those to whom you’ve provided express agreement in writing to receive their calls.

Check out DoNotCall @ [ www.donotcall.gov ]

• New: Follow MakeUseOf on Twitter. Recommended!
• MakeUseOf 'Geeky Fun' - Hillarious Geeky Pics and Videos from different parts of web.

• CallerComplaints: Database of Telemarketer Phone Numbers
• TempInBox: Temporary Email Account
• SpamGourmet : Spam Blocker for your eMail
• ProQuo: Remove Personal Info. from Marketing Lists
• FilzMail: Easily Create Disposable Email Accounts

Spam Proof Email Generator offers a simple fix that will esnure that your email address stays secure from spam bots. Spam bots are only able to collect emails which are written in text and not ones shown on image. And that’s exactly what SPEG does, it converts text emails to images. Enter your email, specify desired colors and gererate spam proof email image.

Features:

• Customize font and background color, font type, size etc..
• Save generated email image to you hard drive.
• Embed generated email image on any webpage.

Visit Spam Proof Email Generator @ [ www.spam-proof-email-generator.com ]

• New: Follow MakeUseOf on Twitter. Recommended!
• MakeUseOf 'Geeky Fun' - Hillarious Geeky Pics and Videos from different parts of web.

• Verify-eMail : Check Suspicious eMails. Real or Not.
• TinyMail: Protect your Email Address from Spam
• TheHTMLEncoder: Hide Email Address from Spam Bots
• The Enkoder Form: Email Address Encryption Tool
• TemporaryInbox: Temporary Email Forwarding

Is it always accurate? Well, not always. Some mail servers don’t cooperate so it’s not possible to verify whether the email address is real or not. (Ex. Yahoo.com)

Check out Verify-eMail @ www.verify-email.org

• New: Follow MakeUseOf on Twitter. Recommended!
• MakeUseOf 'Geeky Fun' - Hillarious Geeky Pics and Videos from different parts of web.

• TinyMail: Protect your Email Address from Spam
• TheHTMLEncoder: Hide Email Address from Spam Bots
• The Enkoder Form: Email Address Encryption Tool
• TemporaryInbox: Temporary Email Forwarding
• TempInBox: Temporary Email Account

Update: Unfortunately, TempInBox doesn’t work any more. For an alternative tool go to Mintemail.

Feature List:

• Instantly generate temporary email address without visiting TempInBox.com.
• Subscribe to an RSS or ATOM feed to monitor the email account remotely from your feedreader.
• Multi-lingual: Browse your email inbox in over 20 languages.

Check out TempInBox @ www.tempinbox.com

Update: Unfortunately, TempInBox doesn’t work any more. For an alternative tool go to Mintemail.

• New: Follow MakeUseOf on Twitter. Recommended!
• MakeUseOf 'Geeky Fun' - Hillarious Geeky Pics and Videos from different parts of web.

• SpamGourmet : Spam Blocker for your eMail
• TemporaryInbox: Temporary Email Forwarding
• Mintemail: Disposable Email Address
• Gishpuppy
• FilzMail: Easily Create Disposable Email Accounts

ProQuo: “There is a ten billion dollar industry profiting from the trading and selling of your personal information today — without your knowledge, and without your consent. The companies involved in this industry include data brokers, direct marketing companies, credit bureaus, and other organizations.”

Feature Overview

• Reduce junk mail and prevent identity thefts by removing personal data from marketing lists.
• Unsubscribe from: Coupons & Weekly Circulars, Marketing Lists & Data Brokers, Phone Directories, AND Telemarketing Lists.
• Choose which mails/promotions to stop and which to continue.
• Claims to reduce junk mail by 50 to 90 percent.
• Note: it may take anywhere between 4-12 weeks for opt-out requests to get processed.
• Operates only in United States.
• More Questions? Go to service FAQ page.

Check out ProQuo @ www.proquo.com

• New: Follow MakeUseOf on Twitter. Recommended!
• MakeUseOf 'Geeky Fun' - Hillarious Geeky Pics and Videos from different parts of web.

• CatalogChoice: Reduce Catalog Spam
• TheMailMonster: Send Postal Mail Online For Free
• TempInBox: Temporary Email Account
• SpamGourmet : Spam Blocker for your eMail
• SnailMailr: Send Snail Mail Online

TechCrunch: “Americans are inundated with 19 billion catalogs a year. A new not-for-profit Website called Catalog Choice just launched today that lets you opt out of getting such mailings on a catalog-by-catalog basis.”

How It Works ?

• 1. Sign up: Complete registration form and provide your name and primary postal mailing address. Your address details will only be used for opting-out of catalog subscriptions.
• 2. Find Catalogs: Use Catalog Choice search feature to find your catalogs, and decline them.
• 3. Catalog Choice will contact providers on your behalf and request that your name and address be removed from their mailing lists.

Please note that it can take up to 2.5 months until your opt-out request is processed.

More Questions? Go to service FAQ page.

Check out CatalogChoice @ www.catalogchoice.org

• New: Follow MakeUseOf on Twitter. Recommended!
• MakeUseOf 'Geeky Fun' - Hillarious Geeky Pics and Videos from different parts of web.

• ProQuo: Remove Personal Info. from Marketing Lists
• GreenDimes: Reduce Postal JunkMail & Stay Green
• TempInBox: Temporary Email Account
• SpamGourmet : Spam Blocker for your eMail
• FilzMail: Easily Create Disposable Email Accounts

How SpamGourmet works

1. When asked to give in your email use: someword.x.username@spamgourmet.com.

• someword: can be anything you want but the better way to use it would be to describe a name of the website you’re subscribing to. This way you will always know where exactly emails are coming from.
• x: an optional value which can be used to put a limit on the number of messages you want to receive at this address (default is 3).

2. Setup forwarding to your primary email account.

Example

Say your SpamGourmet user name is “spamcowboy”, and some BigCorp wants you to give them your email address. Instead of giving them your real email, you can use following:

frombigcorp.3.spamcowboy@spamgourmet.com

This disposable email address will be created upon the first email from BigCorp and will be allowed to receive at most 3 messages.

Go to SpamGourmet @ www.spamgourmet.com

• New: Follow MakeUseOf on Twitter. Recommended!
• MakeUseOf 'Geeky Fun' - Hillarious Geeky Pics and Videos from different parts of web.

• TempInBox: Temporary Email Account
• TemporaryInbox: Temporary Email Forwarding
• Mintemail: Disposable Email Address
• Gishpuppy
• FilzMail: Easily Create Disposable Email Accounts