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It got so bad on my main emails, I just made a new one, started out with a custom domain and going to start doing per-website emails from now on to track where

It got so bad on my main emails, I just made a new one, started out with a custom domain and going to start doing per-website emails from now on to track where the hell its coming from

prepend 4y ago
I’ve been doing this for a few years and find that the per website emails aren’t so bad and it’s whenever I use my old “legacy” emails that I’ve had with gmail for ages that gets the spam directed to it.
wlesieutre 4y ago
Any good email services that offer unlimited aliases on custom domains at a reasonable price, or are you running that yourself?
- drexlspivey 4y ago
  You can use a catchall, no need to set an alias for each address. Fastmail is very often recommended around here
  - wlesieutre 4y ago
    Does that not get you a bunch of extra spam that's been blasted at made up addresses?
    - ta988 4y ago
      I have my custom server for that. Yes it happens, the occasional mail on root@ etc but that's negligible compared to normal level of spam.
- AhtiK 4y ago
  you can just add +myalias to most email services and get it delivered automatically. E.g. first.second+github@gmail.com delivers to firstsecond@gmail.com
  - vladvasiliu 4y ago
    But this is a quite well-known technique, so if someone is at least a little smart along the way, they can easily strip the +github part.
    - jjoonathan 4y ago
      Not just "can," they do strip the + part. Especially the sketchy ones. Or they barf. I tried this for a while and had a 30% success rate. It was dismal.
  - ta988 4y ago
    spammers strip the + and some websites refuse them. I switched to other symbols on my own server to go around that.
- sodality2 4y ago
  Migadu mail is very cheap, been using them for almost a year now with zero interruption or issues. Unlimited custom domains, unlimited aliases, etc for $20/yr
  - thex10 4y ago
    I had just started using this one, enjoying it so far!
- neogodless 4y ago
  https://www.namecheap.com/hosting/email/ https://www.namecheap.com/hosting/email/ $15/year (plus the cost of the domain) Currently using the middle tier and have been very happy with it. Note that codified aliases are limited, but you can create a catch-all account. I have not needed to codify aliases to send "as" one of those accounts.
- criddell 4y ago
  If you are in the Apple ecosystem, you can do custom domains for $1 / month using iCloud+.
  - neogodless 4y ago
    Does this include catch-all / unlimited aliases?
    - WorldMaker 4y ago
      If you are all-in on the Apple ecosystem you can get unlimited aliases with Apple's "Hide My Email" system.
- ARandomerDude 4y ago
  Fastmail.com (No affiliation beyond being a happy customer.)
- saimiam 4y ago
  PretzelBox.cc (my project) does this along with a blog, a file storage area, and hosting. Final pricing is still TBD but if you join the beta list, we are handing out huge discounts which’ll bring your effective cost between $5-15/month for everything.
- wishinghand 4y ago
  I've only used it once or twice, but Fastmail has something like this as part of their lowest paid tier.
  - neogodless 4y ago
    https://www.fastmail.com/pricing/ https://www.fastmail.com/pricing/ Actually have to step up to $5/month (per user) to get custom domain names.
cube00 4y ago
The first time I busted a company doing this was very satisfying writing to their privacy officer requesting they remove every trace of my data from their systems with an attachment of the spam email with their domain on it so it there could no doubt where it leaked from. Hopefully it was worth the few cents they got selling my address.
- dylan604 4y ago
  You were satisfied with with empty calories? That's what I would consider this with the information you provided. Did the company you sent this removal request a) respond, b) honor your request? If no, then what you did was essentially waste your time. If they did, why not add that information to your post?
  - saimiam 4y ago
    Such a shortsighted view of the action taken! A) if more people make a fuss about their email getting sold the way OP did, we can still salvage something out of the situation B) results/outcomes are not the only reason people why should do things. After all, we lionize those Russians protesting the Ukraine invasion knowing nothing will come out of it at a personal level.
    - dylan604 4y ago
      I can see where you're coming from, but I disagree with shortsighted. Pessimistic maybe. I see this kind of messaging to a company doing shady things similar to clicking the unsubscribe link in emails. It's just confirming the message was read by a human, and validates the email address as a good target. Even if you send the cease email from a different address, you've just given them a new address to harvest.
    - azemetre 4y ago
      This is bad IMO, why should individuals have to rectify something a company did? All it does is encourage bad behavior because I'm sure that the still comes out ahead if even 10% (being generous) did the above. Society would be way better if we made a collective action to lobby our Congress to change the laws and make it illegal. Tech has been unregulated for far too long and there's too many bad actors taking advantage of this.
inetknght 4y ago
> going to start doing per-website emails from now on to track where the hell its coming from Beware that some websites use this "legitimately": I ordered some stuff from Ikea and asked that it get delivered. Ikea forwarded the request to a third party, TaskRabbit. I now get TaskRabbit email spam to my ikea.com@ per-website email. And no matter how many times I unsubscribe from TaskRabbit the spam still comes. Spam detection successful! I just put @taskrabbit.com into the blackhole and call it a day. If I get more spam to ikea.com@ then it will also get blackholed. I already won't buy anything else from Ikea for something as dumb as this.

It got so bad on my main emails, I just made a new one, started out with a custom domain and going to start doing per-website emails from now on to track where the hell its coming from

prepend 4y ago

I’ve been doing this for a few years and find that the per website emails aren’t so bad and it’s whenever I use my old “legacy” emails that I’ve had with gmail for ages that gets the spam directed to it.

wlesieutre 4y ago

Any good email services that offer unlimited aliases on custom domains at a reasonable price, or are you running that yourself?

drexlspivey 4y ago
You can use a catchall, no need to set an alias for each address. Fastmail is very often recommended around here
- wlesieutre 4y ago
  Does that not get you a bunch of extra spam that's been blasted at made up addresses?
  - ta988 4y ago
    I have my custom server for that. Yes it happens, the occasional mail on root@ etc but that's negligible compared to normal level of spam.
AhtiK 4y ago
you can just add +myalias to most email services and get it delivered automatically. E.g. first.second+github@gmail.com delivers to firstsecond@gmail.com
- vladvasiliu 4y ago
  But this is a quite well-known technique, so if someone is at least a little smart along the way, they can easily strip the +github part.
  - jjoonathan 4y ago
    Not just "can," they do strip the + part. Especially the sketchy ones. Or they barf. I tried this for a while and had a 30% success rate. It was dismal.
- ta988 4y ago
  spammers strip the + and some websites refuse them. I switched to other symbols on my own server to go around that.
sodality2 4y ago
Migadu mail is very cheap, been using them for almost a year now with zero interruption or issues. Unlimited custom domains, unlimited aliases, etc for $20/yr
- thex10 4y ago
  I had just started using this one, enjoying it so far!
neogodless 4y ago
https://www.namecheap.com/hosting/email/ https://www.namecheap.com/hosting/email/ $15/year (plus the cost of the domain) Currently using the middle tier and have been very happy with it. Note that codified aliases are limited, but you can create a catch-all account. I have not needed to codify aliases to send "as" one of those accounts.
criddell 4y ago
If you are in the Apple ecosystem, you can do custom domains for $1 / month using iCloud+.
- neogodless 4y ago
  Does this include catch-all / unlimited aliases?
  - WorldMaker 4y ago
    If you are all-in on the Apple ecosystem you can get unlimited aliases with Apple's "Hide My Email" system.
ARandomerDude 4y ago
Fastmail.com (No affiliation beyond being a happy customer.)
saimiam 4y ago
PretzelBox.cc (my project) does this along with a blog, a file storage area, and hosting. Final pricing is still TBD but if you join the beta list, we are handing out huge discounts which’ll bring your effective cost between $5-15/month for everything.
wishinghand 4y ago
I've only used it once or twice, but Fastmail has something like this as part of their lowest paid tier.
- neogodless 4y ago
  https://www.fastmail.com/pricing/ https://www.fastmail.com/pricing/ Actually have to step up to $5/month (per user) to get custom domain names.

cube00 4y ago

The first time I busted a company doing this was very satisfying writing to their privacy officer requesting they remove every trace of my data from their systems with an attachment of the spam email with their domain on it so it there could no doubt where it leaked from. Hopefully it was worth the few cents they got selling my address.

dylan604 4y ago
You were satisfied with with empty calories? That's what I would consider this with the information you provided. Did the company you sent this removal request a) respond, b) honor your request? If no, then what you did was essentially waste your time. If they did, why not add that information to your post?
- saimiam 4y ago
  Such a shortsighted view of the action taken! A) if more people make a fuss about their email getting sold the way OP did, we can still salvage something out of the situation B) results/outcomes are not the only reason people why should do things. After all, we lionize those Russians protesting the Ukraine invasion knowing nothing will come out of it at a personal level.
  - dylan604 4y ago
    I can see where you're coming from, but I disagree with shortsighted. Pessimistic maybe. I see this kind of messaging to a company doing shady things similar to clicking the unsubscribe link in emails. It's just confirming the message was read by a human, and validates the email address as a good target. Even if you send the cease email from a different address, you've just given them a new address to harvest.
  - azemetre 4y ago
    This is bad IMO, why should individuals have to rectify something a company did? All it does is encourage bad behavior because I'm sure that the still comes out ahead if even 10% (being generous) did the above. Society would be way better if we made a collective action to lobby our Congress to change the laws and make it illegal. Tech has been unregulated for far too long and there's too many bad actors taking advantage of this.

inetknght 4y ago

> going to start doing per-website emails from now on to track where the hell its coming from Beware that some websites use this "legitimately": I ordered some stuff from Ikea and asked that it get delivered. Ikea forwarded the request to a third party, TaskRabbit. I now get TaskRabbit email spam to my ikea.com@ per-website email. And no matter how many times I unsubscribe from TaskRabbit the spam still comes. Spam detection successful! I just put @taskrabbit.com into the blackhole and call it a day. If I get more spam to ikea.com@ then it will also get blackholed. I already won't buy anything else from Ikea for something as dumb as this.