Are you drowning in excessive emails recently?

You can use Simple Login to create anonymous email aliases for online accounts. Makes it easy to filter and also determine who has sold your data to spammers.

You can also check if your email or phone number has been compromised via a data breach at https://haveibeenpwned.com/ which could explain an uptick in spam

2 Likes

I’ve seen that site mentioned many times - I’ve always been a bit suspicious that by ‘checking’ your details you might be inadvertently providing them. I assume not in reality, but I’m a bit paranoid about such things!

1 Like

You have every right to be concerned. Most of these people not only use your details for their own marketing purposes but they often sell them to a 3rd party.

It’s a legitimate site. The chap who owns it works for Microsoft. Here’s the privacy blurb… Have I Been Pwned: Privacy

2 Likes

Thanks, you can presumably understand my suspicion though.

Absolutely can, I’m just as suspicious. I use Simple Login for all online accounts these days, although since GDPR I haven’t received much spam via services i’ve signed up to. Its mostly been via data breaches - for example my phone number was exposed as part of the Facebook breach and shortly after I began receiving various spam txts from places all over the world

1 Like

Yes and you haven’t responded to any of mine. :rofl::rofl:

2 Likes

Are you the Nigerian prince who needs my help to unlock his vast fortune? If so, I’ve been trying to contact you! I’m ready to transfer the funds!

:rofl:

1 Like

That’s me. I look forward to your financial assistance and you know you’ll get it back. :wink:

1 Like

Gmail allows you an unlimited number of aliases, and you can just make them up as you need them - no setup needed. If your address is myemail@gmail.com, put a + sign just before the @, then insert any number of characters in between. For example, all of the following:

myemail+nospam@gmail.com
myemail+ebay@gmail.com
myemail+temp01@gmail.com

will forward to myemail@gmail.com. Once any of them starts to attract too much spam, you can add a filter to block them.

2 Likes

A great theory but Google reads all your emails and both tailors your adverts and sells your data on the back of that. I share a gmail address with my wife and despite all these precautions being in place spam rains down on the thing. I would never have an individual gmail account. The price is too high.

According to Google, they absolutely do not scan or read emails. Ads are based on online activity rather than email content. It’s worth checking privacy settings; I’ve used a gmail account for years and get no ads at all. On my phone I use the adblocker app Blockbear.

It’s odd that people are getting so much junk mail, as I get virtually nothing, maybe one thing every couple of months.

Maybe my life is so dull that nobody considers it worth spamming me.

No offence HH but I wouldn’t trust any of them, they’re all been caught lying.

1 Like

The trouble is, if you take the view that you can’t trust anyone, you just become paranoid and live a miserable life. There is so much nonsense out there: 5G gives you Covid, Q Anon, and on, and on. If Google say they are not scanning emails, then I’m going to believe it. How else does one cope, get a carrier pigeon? Like I said, I get no ads from using gmail, and have had no spam for weeks.

No not true at all I didn’t say you couldn’t or can’t trust anyone I just said you can’t trust faceless online companies that make money out of your information. As someone who has been robbed of over $125ks (we did get it back) online if you’re not cautious it’s at your own peril.

Of course, one must be cautious. There are lots of incredibly clever scams going on and it’s very easy to be caught out. But as for not trusting the big companies such as Google, what do you do if you want to avoid them? I don’t use Facebook, as it’s full of crap, but I do use WhatsApp, despite the odd advert, as we use it to organise our U3A group. There is a line between being sensible and cautious and being paranoid.

Unfortunately it’s too late we’ve already shut the door on living without them. However I think governments need to regulate how and what data they collect and more importantly what they do with it. There’s an old saying that if something on line is free your generally the commodity.

We just got a letter this morning from our super firm informing Mrs Pete that all her data/information has been breached.

Oh dear. Time to change those passwords.

I have used the same personal Gmail account for about 20 years, and I get very little spam on it. I have a low opinion of Google in general (and their ethics in particular), but I greatly doubt that my use of a Gmail account is a significant spam vector. Targeted ads are almost impossible to avoid these days, and I keep them manageable with suitable ad blockers, limiting shared cookies, avoiding cross-site authentication, etc. YMMV.

I stand corrected. Google stopped scanning emails in 2017. They continue to allow scanning by third parties and there is nothing you can do to control that.