How to Know Exactly Who Sold Your Email Address to Spammers
Email spam is a reality of our times. Here’s the best way to avoid it.
Your email address is worth money.
It’s worth a lot of money, to a lot of people. And some folks, as unscrupulous or as conniving as they are, will stop at nothing to get it.
(This sounds like the opening line of a particularly digitally-inclined crime novel, but I’m serious.)
What your email address represents is a way for you to be directly contacted — by brands, companies, friends and your mom. For your mom, it’s a nice and easy way to stay in touch. For brands, companies, services, or even bloggers like me (hi) they represent a chance to sell you something. And that’s worth money.
Now, most of us know this. I know, for example, when I sign up to someone’s mailing list, that they’ll probably try to sell me something. It’s understood and accepted. And here’s why:
There are two social interactions happening here. First, the person emailing me is going to try to provide enough value to me for free that I don’t mind the odd advertisement from them. Secondly, I trust that they’ll only recommend things they like, that they think I’ll like, too. For example, if I signed up to a writer’s mailing list, I’d…
