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Opting Out From 3Com Spam Requires Opting In | 197 comments (197 topical) | Post A Comment
Not necessiarly[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#27)
by kamnet on Wed Apr 05, 2006 at 12:35:14 AM PDT

Just because your unused, unreferenced e-mail account gets spam doesn't mean that the provider provided it. Spammers have become very adept at creating software which puts together common strings of text in order to guess if an e-mail address is valid/active/legitimate.

From the ever-popular johnsmith@something.com to the slightly more ambiguous jsmith2003@something.com, or even more rediculous strings like heartthrob384938@something.com, it doesn't really matter as long as it is somewhat logical.

I think at this point the only way you could guarantee that a naked, unprotected e-mail account could not receive spam is if you used a very randomized order of letters and numbers.

2ab38204asdop39248@hotmail.com, anybody?

[ Parent | Reply to This ]



Opting Out From 3Com Spam Requires Opting In | 197 comments (197 topical) | Post A Comment
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