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Ask HN: People who use different emails everywhere, who sold you to spammers?

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101–110 of 444 posts

Re: Ask HN: People who use different emails everywhere, who sold you to spammers?

#102

123rf.com was 100% hacked or breached. Received SPAM on a really old account which I do not use, unique email address and from one day to another it was daily SPAM.

Yep, got the alert for that one:

https://haveibeenpwned.com/PwnedWebsites#123RF

Re: Ask HN: People who use different emails everywhere, who sold you to spammers?

#103

Nothing, NOTHING relates to the time I sent an inquiry on Alibaba. Nearly 10 years later I still get sent random quotes for custom USB drives.

I can relate to this. I too also get the "Dear Friend" emails from Chinese businesses wanting to semm me custom USB drives. Someone has to tell them to stop using "Dear Friend", as when I see it, I just hit delete.

Re: Ask HN: People who use different emails everywhere, who sold you to spammers?

#104
post #23

I mostly use one single address, but I can tell you exactly where all the spam comes from: idiots whose name is the same as mine. They give my address as if it belonged to them. Probably they created addresses like narag33@server and they believe that it's narag@server instead. So not only I receive all the spam from dubious sites that they suscribed to, but also their legitimate mail from lists and friends. My names…

I got my gmail account early and was able to get my first name at gmail.com. My name is fairly popular in my part of the world and everyone who has it uses my email address as a throwaway since they actually authenticate using a phone number. I have matrimonials, visa applications, leave applications, uber accounts, SaaS subscriptions, porn subscriptions, random newsletters and what not. My gmail account is all but u…

I have the same, but less volume than you. I've had VERY confidential mail sent to me, and one time someone even tried to send me 1500 bucks, but alas I didn't know the password for the transfer :)

Sometimes I get so annoyed I do a password reset on their accounts. Gotta learn some how.

Re: Ask HN: People who use different emails everywhere, who sold you to spammers?

#105
post #23

I mostly use one single address, but I can tell you exactly where all the spam comes from: idiots whose name is the same as mine. They give my address as if it belonged to them. Probably they created addresses like narag33@server and they believe that it's narag@server instead. So not only I receive all the spam from dubious sites that they suscribed to, but also their legitimate mail from lists and friends. My names…

> But some of the companies responsible of the subscriptions, like Paypal, are assholes. They allow the creation of accounts without verifying the email, then refuse to admit it's their problem and do something about it.

+1. My OG name email has been mistakenly registered for a PayPal account, but there's no way I can go about disavowing the account, or removing my email address from it.

Re: Ask HN: People who use different emails everywhere, who sold you to spammers?

#106
Just this year, Angi (formerly Angie's List) did. I requested contact from a few providers for a specific home repair job. Not only did I get emails from other providers, but a few weeks later, I was on mailing lists for completely unrelated types of contractors.

Re: Ask HN: People who use different emails everywhere, who sold you to spammers?

#108
The sad thing is, ever since I started using unique addresses years ago, they've caught exactly no one. I get buckets upon buckets of spam, but only from the first party companies I actually have a relationship with, and zero from 'partners'.

Mayhaps just having an email domain that isn't from a big webmail provider keeps out the spam? But then again, I get plenty of actual spam to my work email which I've never given to anyone.

Re: Ask HN: People who use different emails everywhere, who sold you to spammers?

#109
post #23

I mostly use one single address, but I can tell you exactly where all the spam comes from: idiots whose name is the same as mine. They give my address as if it belonged to them. Probably they created addresses like narag33@server and they believe that it's narag@server instead. So not only I receive all the spam from dubious sites that they suscribed to, but also their legitimate mail from lists and friends. My names…

> But some of the companies responsible of the subscriptions, like Paypal, are assholes. They allow the creation of accounts without verifying the email, then refuse to admit it's their problem and do something about it. +1. My OG name email has been mistakenly registered for a PayPal account, but there's no way I can go about disavowing the account, or removing my email address from it.

I’ve had a few folks use my email. This is going to prove wildly unpopular but I just reset the password using the email, go in and delete the account (or submit a ticket with support to do so).

They can make a new one with their own email if it’s important.

Re: Ask HN: People who use different emails everywhere, who sold you to spammers?

#110
post #23

I mostly use one single address, but I can tell you exactly where all the spam comes from: idiots whose name is the same as mine. They give my address as if it belonged to them. Probably they created addresses like narag33@server and they believe that it's narag@server instead. So not only I receive all the spam from dubious sites that they suscribed to, but also their legitimate mail from lists and friends. My names…

Yeah, I have firstlast@gmail.com with an extremely common German name. I’m on some investor list for a biotech company, I’ve received patent applications and internal discussions, holiday pictures, quotes for everything from building houses to repairing things.

I don’t even use gmail anymore, but I keep looking into what kind of fun emails I get (and I report every opt-out-only newsletter, which includes Google Fiber and some US Democratic Party thing, as spam).

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