How to Create a Craigslist Email Account

When you put your real email address on a website, you leave yourself vulnerable to spam from bots that automatically troll the Internet looking for email addresses to message. When you create a post on Craigslist, such as a house for rent or an item for sale, you generally expect an email response. Craigslist helps protect your real email address by giving you the option of using an autogenerated Craigslist email address that forwards to your real email address. This address is not a full-fledged email account, just a temporary forward that Craigslist deletes when your post expires.

Instructions

1. Visit the website for your location's Craigslist, such as seattle.craigslist.org.

2. Click the name of the category where you want to place an ad, such as For Sale.

3. Click "Post" at the top to create a new listing.

4. Choose your categories as prompted.

5. Click the "Anonymize" circle to generate a Craigslist email address.

6. Fill in the other fields as necessary, such as your real email address and price.

7. Click "Continue" to preview and publish your listing.

Tips & Warnings

• The structure of your Craigslist email address changes depending on the category in which you post. For example, emails in the For Sale category start with "sale."

References

• Craigslist: Anonymize