Is the Craigslist e-mail relay service anonymous?

Question

I posted a gig on Craigslist and want to ensure my anonymity during an e-mail exchange.

When replying to [email protected], where foo is a fairly long alphanumeric string, are both e-mail addresses anonymous?
I received an e-mail and want to reply, but want to stay anonymous to the other user. Of course, Craigslist knows my e-mail address, and surely logs it somewhere, that's not a concern — I just want to ensure that the other user can't see my e-mail address.

Should I only reply to the [email protected] address, and not, for instance, [email protected]? I suppose the [email protected] is the e-mail which was responded to from the ad.

Answer 1

When you respond to an email address generated by Craigslist's email relay, your real email address is not exposed to the recipient.

The display name from your email client, however, will be shared.

Example:

1. Yuan replies to your post and you receive an email from:

   Yuan A'Bye  
   <[email protected]>
   

2. You, Barry, reply to that message from your Gmail account:

   Barry Uhm 
   <[email protected]>
   

3. Yuan gets your reply and sees the message is from:

   Barry Uhm 
   <[email protected]>
   

This exposes your real name "Barry Uhm" (as set in your email client), despite your email address itself being anonymized.

2-Way Email Relay

cl > about > help > email relay

Craigslist has implemented 2-way email relay to help stop spam and scams.

When replying to a post you'll see an address like: [email protected]

When answering an email you'll see an address like: [email protected]

Use your email program as you normally would.

PLEASE NOTE: The “real name” field (e.g. Jane Doe) in your email program is passed through to the recipient. Any contact information in the body of your message will pass through unaltered.

Help Resources:

• How can I post anonymously and still receive responses?
• Craigslist 2-Way Email Relay
• Frequently Asked Questions