This simple trick requires a free gmail address. If you don’t have a gmail account, grab a free one so you can find the SOBs selling your email address. You may be able to apply this trick to other email service providers, and if you can, please tell me in the comments below so I can add them to this post.
First of all, I don’t care what your terms of service say; and no, I did not read the fine print. There is no excuse for selling my email address. I think it’s safe to say, this feeling is shared by all humans around the world.
If your business is caught doing this don’t be surprised if the internet turns on you, which can be a death sentence for your company. Unlike 20 years ago, thanks to the internet, the consumer has all the power now.
The Trick
Every gmail address allows you to instantly create a new email that forwards to your email address by adding “+” and any word or numbers after your email prefix and before the @ symbol.
Don’t over complicate this.
Here’s an example:
If your email address is larrypage@gmail.com, then you can instantly create something like larrypage+walmart@gmail.com, or larrypage+23@gmail.com.
Get it?
No settings. No support needed. Literally add “+” and any number or word before the @ symbol and you are done.
How to Set Your Trap
The next time a company asks for your email address, instead of giving them youremail@gmail.com, give them youremail+companyname@gmail.com. From time to time, check what email spammers are using to spam you, and boom you’ll find your culprit.
A quick example.
Let’s say Larry wants some tacos, but he’s not a taco officianado, so he ends up going to Taco Bell. Then, let’s say Larry wants to jump on Taco Bell’s wifi, but they require an email first. Well, instead of entering larrypage@gmail.com, Larry should enter larrypage+tacobell@gmail.com.
Trap set!
Not only will Larry get free wifi while he’s eating his delicious tacos, but if any spam comes his way, using larrypage+tacobell@gmail.com, he knows who did it.
If this trick applies to any other email service providers, let me know in the comments below so I can spread the magic and the love.
Happy Hunting Folks!