How do they keep getting my email address?

Spammers are everywhere. All they need is one leak of a large company to have millions, if not more, valid email addresses to annoy. In 2013-2014, Yahoo had security breaches(yes, that is multiple breaches) which compromised 3 billion accounts. Names, dates of birth, email addresses, and passwords were not the only things the hackers got. They also had access to security questions and answers. Marriott International had over 500 million customers’ data stolen. The hackers were in the hotel giant’s system from 2016 until they were discovered in September of 2018. These aren’t the only huge companies to have their systems fail to secure customer information. eBay, Target, Home Depot, and Equifax (you know, the credit reporting company which has your social security information?) were all compromised within the last 10 years. Think about all the places you’ve done business online. You have a great chance that your information was in one of these breaches.

Your password strength means little in the light of these kinds of attacks. Once your information is out there, it’s out there forever. What can you do to protect yourself?

Living “off the grid” without an online presence at all might sound appealing right now. It’s not really feasible, though. You can help yourself by using aliases online so your real email address and phone number can stay off the grid.  An alias email works just like a normal email, but lets emails you don’t want disappear into the ether.  Similarly, an alias phone number shields your real phone number from spam texts. And, if there is a breach, that alias information is all the hackers get…not your personal email address or mobile number.

It’s your phone number. It’s your email address. It’s none of their business.