Where do Spammers get your address?

Question

I have a personal email address which I have never given to anyone or any marketing, or placed onto any listing.
But i continue to get spam (all types).
Where do these people get our addresses....does Yahoo or other email providers sell our info...or is it just blind luck that they hit an email address?

thanks ☺

Answer 1

I found it enlightening to Google my email address and spend an hour or two looking through *all* the results, page after blamed page! On about the 30th page, I found a spammers database (it looked like an address book, with email addresses in alphabetical order, sorted by name within ISP, thus all the [e-mail] then all the [e-mail] and like that).

Anyway, you may see, at some point in such a search, where your email address is stored online. Once it is stored *somewhere*, you know that "spambots" (automatic programs owned and run periodically by spamming companies) go out everywhere looking for email addresses, yours included of course. So's they'll have targets for possible advertising and loansharking and like that. (Need a mortgage or a pocketwatch?)

Answer 2

Spammers have many ways in which they can get your email address. They can hack into sites where you've used your email address, from a friend's computer that was hacked, from remote havesting programs that scan the internet, many ways.

It's best to guard your email address as you would your home address. And have a few email accounts. I use one for regular internet use like for forums, then another for banking and another for personal use. I also will use fake addresses on suspicious sites, like using an alias name, and if I get spam I know exactly where it came from.

Google, Yahoo or MSN do not sell your email address. But there are thousands of cases of other sites that have been hacked and your email address stolen. But companies will not admit a hacking breakin unless forced to by law.

It's not blind luck although there are many password generators that can guess a person's password since most users don't think of a good password using both letters and numbers.

There are many sophisticated programs that spammers use today. And if the spammer cannot steal your address, he can always buy a list of names. It's a daily war between the spammers and those who report and fight spam.

Answer 3

Spammers get email addresses from forwarded emails because people neglect to copy and paste. Also, many companies sell your email address, and, of course, there are the hackers and theives.

Answer 4

hackers get into your account or someone has sold it to a spam mail agency. You may not sign up for free stuff or anything like that, but if you post your resume on job sites, especially Monster because they got hacked recently, they will steal your email address.

Answer 5

if you signed up to any sites reason below:
they have bots that go to sites and scan the site for email addies or the site sells your email to a third party.


alot of sites hide email addresses, mine does for this very reason.

Answer 6

Blind luck

Answer 7

without seeing your email address compromised, it's hard to tell.

if your email is like this, "[e-mail]", it's just asking to get compromised, because spammers try common words.

now if your email is like this "[e-mail]", and you say you never gave it out, then someone is giving out your email on the inside!

Answer 8

They are sold, hackers gain access, some are even randomly generated. There really is no sure fire way to stop it.