Can someones email address be 'signed up' for spamming?

[PinkyMacGodess]

I'm thinking that I have a troll in the real world who has sent my email address to spammers as I keep getting waves of spam. Are there places on the internet where people can do that, and is there any way to find out who is doing it?

And what kind of person inflicts that on someone. It started back late last year. It's my personal email address, so not all that many people know it, and I really don't use it much publicly. I do think that it might be linked to unsubscribing to a number of email lists from some vendors. But who knows. I could just change email addresses, but that is a lot of drama, and 'hide my email' doesn't work as well as Apple seems to think. I'm so tired of the crap. And filters are a rather useless gesture. I keep getting emails spoofing domains I actually use, and some I really need to receive messages from. Mean people suck...

 

[Scepticalscribe]

I'm thinking that I have a troll in the real world who has sent my email address to spammers as I keep getting waves of spam. Are there places on the internet where people can do that, and is there any way to find out who is doing it?

And what kind of person inflicts that on someone. It started back late last year. It's my personal email address, so not all that many people know it, and I really don't use it much publicly. I do think that it might be linked to unsubscribing to a number of email lists from some vendors. But who knows. I could just change email addresses, but that is a lot of drama, and 'hide my email' doesn't work as well as Apple seems to think. I'm so tired of the crap. And filters are a rather useless gesture. I keep getting emails spoofing domains I actually use, and some I really need to receive messages from. Mean people suck...

Rather than a troll in the real world (though this is, of course, possible) having sent your private email address to spammers, I suspect that a more likely (or credible, or plausible) explanation is that the accounts of some of the vendors you subscribed to (and, perhaps, still subscribe to) may have been hacked, and thus, that the email addresses of customers that these accounts had stored were also either hacked, and/or stolen, and/or subsequently sold to third parties such as spammers.

Nevertheless, I agree that it is frustrating and infuriating when this happens.

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

I read this thread, and it just gives me very little hope to deal with this cancer causing me such stress.

Yeah, 'good' messages are ending up in my junk folder, so I have to check it everyday, several times a day. The amount of crap is almost daunting to wade through. I try to block delete emails from suspect sites, but still have to wade through the sewage. I wonder if some of my filters have blocked some domains family members use. I haven't heard from my uncle in over a month. But I can't fault the spammers so much as it's the idiots that respond to so much of it that really should be smacked upside their empty heads that make spamming such a profitable, and low cost hot mess. And the internet's email protocols that allow almost literally *anything* to come from almost literally *anywhere* that contribute to the infestation and tsunami of crap.

Yes, there have been some attempts to deal with spam emails, but many just aren't up to the task, and too many are viewed as 'guidelines' rather than things that the entire industry should embrace.

But, yeah Do Not Click 'Unsubscribe'! Just Don't!!!
Be careful with filters. Actually read the email domains that you are seeking to block.

I do have hope. Several years ago, I had another huge problem with junk mail, and after a couple of months, it stopped. Now it's back, and with a vengeance. It's been HUNDREDS of messages an hour. There should be a better way, there HAS to be a better way, and soon.

Investigators can track a threatening message from a university computer back to the exact computer, and exact time, and spam is too hard to stop?

 

[eyoungren]

I find that I get spam from news sources all the time. However that happens, I'm pretty sure it's not personal.

I do have an email account that I use for signups on websites that I expect either to receive spam from or that I do not wish to have my personal email. I've had that email address since 1999 so when I do get spam I know which address it went to.

This has worked fairly well over the years because all my other emails accounts are (generally) spam free. The address that gets spam does have a fairly robust spam filter though so the stuff that reaches me is generally a minor annoyance.

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

I find that I get spam from news sources all the time. However that happens, I'm pretty sure it's not personal.

I do have an email account that I use for signups on websites that I expect either to receive spam from or that I do not wish to have my personal email. I've had that email address since 1999 so when I do get spam I know which address it went to.

This has worked fairly well over the years because all my other emails accounts are (generally) spam free. The address that gets spam does have a fairly robust spam filter though so the stuff that reaches me is generally a minor annoyance.

I had over 300 messages one day, after checking it and emptying it just over an hour before. I DO have better things to do with my life.

And some people. Had an account with a very large national electronics distributor that used a gmail address. At the time a significant number of spam messages were coming from gmail, so I filtered them out. I got a call wondering why I hadn't paid their invoice. I asked them to resend it, and saw it hit the inbox, and disappear. I asked them to fax me a copy of it, and they just printed the email. 'Oh, you're using a gmail address for your local branch? That's why I haven't received it, it's being filtered because gmail sends spam too! 'Well, just open your spam filter to allow our messages to come through.' They had all their employees setup with gmail addresses so it meant removing that filter. I just stopped doing business with them. Good grief...

 

[LeeW]

Check here.

Have I Been Pwned: Check if your email has been compromised in a data breach

Have I Been Pwned allows you to search across multiple data breaches to see if your email address or phone number has been compromised.

haveibeenpwned.com

See what it comes up with. I get a lot of spam daily, but then my email has been active for about 25 years now. In the early days of not knowing better, I would give it out easily enough. I still pay for that error today.

 

[eyoungren]

I had over 300 messages one day, after checking it and emptying it just over an hour before. I DO have better things to do with my life.

And some people. Had an account with a very large national electronics distributor that used a gmail address. At the time a significant number of spam messages were coming from gmail, so I filtered them out. I got a call wondering why I hadn't paid their invoice. I asked them to resend it, and saw it hit the inbox, and disappear. I asked them to fax me a copy of it, and they just printed the email. 'Oh, you're using a gmail address for your local branch? That's why I haven't received it, it's being filtered because gmail sends spam too! 'Well, just open your spam filter to allow our messages to come through.' They had all their employees setup with gmail addresses so it meant removing that filter. I just stopped doing business with them. Good grief...

The email address that I mention I use for this is with Yahoo. Periodically, I'll check the spam folder through their website and literally hundreds of spam emails are in that folder. I don't see them otherwise.

But…while I do have a couple of Gmail addresses, I don't use my Gmail for anything. My company does use Gmail, but we have a domain (not sure if that matters) and I don't handle any of that stuff.

In any case, Yahoo gets put down a lot, but between Gmail and Yahoo I think Yahoo has the better spam filters.

 

[pshufd]

I have an email address that I got in the 1990s and it is very short and very easy to remember. So I use it when someone asks me for my email. My first initial and last name is common and short and so my email address is frequently used as a garbage email to sign up for apps on phones. So I get restaurant orders, receipts, and receipts for all kinds of retailers and a massive amount of spam on the address.

Fortunately it's not my primary email address - I give that out if I need to communicate with someone frequently or on a long-term basis.

I get a lot of unsolicited ads for trading and investment products. I suspect that the ads come from Twitter because the people I follow are in this subgroup. I unsubscribe and mark them as spam to try to get rid of them but they just keep coming. I probably agreed to marketing emails at some online retailer or in signing up for Twitter.

Fortunately Apple Mail has a nice spam button that I can just hit though I have no clue as to whether or not it works. If it's really obnoxious, I go to the email service and create a rule to block the address or subject.

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

I have an email address that I got in the 1990s and it is very short and very easy to remember. So I use it when someone asks me for my email. My first initial and last name is common and short and so my email address is frequently used as a garbage email to sign up for apps on phones. So I get restaurant orders, receipts, and receipts for all kinds of retailers and a massive amount of spam on the address.

Fortunately it's not my primary email address - I give that out if I need to communicate with someone frequently or on a long-term basis.

I get a lot of unsolicited ads for trading and investment products. I suspect that the ads come from Twitter because the people I follow are in this subgroup. I unsubscribe and mark them as spam to try to get rid of them but they just keep coming. I probably agreed to marketing emails at some online retailer or in signing up for Twitter.

Fortunately Apple Mail has a nice spam button that I can just hit though I have no clue as to whether or not it works. If it's really obnoxious, I go to the email service and create a rule to block the address or subject.

Yeah, I guess I'll have to go back to having a 'burner' address again. At one point I had over 12 email addresses through corporate, various groups, clients, etc. Wondering how long the wait will be until they stop hitting my iCloud address.

 

[satcomer]

I found the amount of SPAM is the result of the high handed movement because Apple in iOS put in the 'Do Not Track' button toggle in settings! That tells me the one yelling the loudest is missing to sweet Tony selling of your data to highest bidders like in the past! This tells me never to trust these com ponies ever again especially with my data!