Recently I've been using a method to track sources of SPAM, and I've had some great luck doing so.

Since all the mail to a domain comes through to me, I decided to use SPAM-tracking email addresses nearly anytime I have to give an email address.

Here's how it works:

venturesonline@mydomain.com
vbulletinforums@mydomain.com
000domains@mydomain.com
amazon@mydomain.com

etc

When I get SPAM later on, I know who sold my name, or from where it was mined.

The results have been interesting. I've now had a couple of email conversations with people who sold or otherwise distributed my email address. They had a hard time denying that their privacy policy was not worth the bits it was printed on.

-t

ps None of the addresses above were mined. I just used them as examples :).

I've been doing the same thing since sometime last year. I'm glad to say that none of the places I left an address have misused it. The spam I get is mostly from harvesting Usenet years ago, domain registrations, harvesting from eBay and a few forums. For those, I use a disposable address at one of the free services and change it periodically. The last time I changed it, I was spammed within a week from an ebay harvesting before I even used it anyplace. (I'm assuming eBay doesn't cooperate with spammers).

yep that's a great way to do it. After having an old hotmail box stuffed with junk years ago (in fact it's still active and still getting stuffed even after 2 years of virtual non use), I started to do that. I just pick the main word in the site name and use that as the address I use to contact these people. So far I haven't seen my address end up on any junkmail lists using this method.

I think people tend to notice pretty fast when they see their own domain in your e-mail address :D

I have one throwaway address that appears on the host company search sites that is directed straight to a hotmail bulkmail folder. I scan through it once a day quickly then delete anything not important.

The one or two that manage to end up in my inbox get dumped straight into Span Cop's site and processed.

Greg Moore

eBay is bad as far as spammer address harvesting goes. However, they've recently changed their site so that the only way you can see another eBay member's e-mail address is if you're the winning bidder (and the person placing the auction can see the winning bidder's e-mail address). If you want to send e-mail to the person that placed the auction before the auction is over, they now have a form which sends the e-mail without revealing the address (just like vBulletin).

Ditto here have not been doing it as much but might start up again

;)

I've done the same (except it's companynameBIZ@mydomainname.com). No one's given the address out yet... I was a bit disappointed. I wanted to nail someone. :( Still get filled up with spam though... recently some creepy bedwetting one and something about network solutions with a grey background.