Is it just me, or is spam email on the increase? It could be that I am getting more because I own a domain name or three, or maybe it is because companies are being less than careful with users personal data.
I use one of my domains to allow me to use exclusive email addresses for every website I sign up to (obviously not this one, nor one I am going to mention here). It may be surprising to learn that I am receiving most of my spam emails to addresses set up exclusively for number of BIG names on the internet, this list includes the following worst offenders….
- Groupon
- Voucher Cloud
I am not just talking about unsolicited emails but also a high number of messages that contain suspicious attachments likely to contain viruses or mail-ware (I have won this, or purchased that, or a Nigerian want to give me money). Definitely not what I would expect from the big names above.
These companies may have been victims of some kind of attack that has put our data at risk, or they may have sold the data to other companies, or they may have employees that are giving away this information freely. Of course there is also the possibility of dictionary attacks, However, considering the structure I use for the email addresses I personally think this is unlikely.
I am awaiting responses from all of the above mentioned companies and a few more, it will be interesting to hear what they have to say for themselves.