# Is spam directly related to internet use? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 29, 2003, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-spam-directly-related-to-internet-use/221537 "2003-12-29T05:46:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Briny\_Deep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/briny_deep/32/17188_2.png) [@Briny\_Deep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Briny_Deep)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2003, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-spam-directly-related-to-internet-use/221537/1 "2003-12-29T05:46:14Z")
I came back from a weeklong vacation, no internet use, and there were only 36 messages in my Hotmail account, mostly spam as usual. That’s only slightly larger than the number of messages (mostly spam) I get on any given day. I was surprised my account wasn’t flooded with hundreds of emails. I wonder, does email spam happen as a direct result of surfing the Internet? When I visit a site and they somehow harvest my email address, does that email come immediately, and perhaps never again (or not often again) if I don’t visit the site again? ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2003, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-spam-directly-related-to-internet-use/221537/2 "2003-12-29T05:50:49Z")
I have found that posting on public message boards coincided with my spam going up about 1000%. I only post on two boards. FWIW, my husband doesn’t post on any boards and gets zero spam. Of course, this is not scientific at all, and probably means nothing. YMMV, of course. And it seems to come in waves. ---
**Author:** ![Alereon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecd19e/32.png) [@Alereon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alereon)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2003, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-spam-directly-related-to-internet-use/221537/3 "2003-12-29T05:51:43Z")
No. A site cannot harvest your email address. You must give it to them, or someone you give it to must provide it to the spammers. There’s also dictionary and brute force spam attacks, but they’re less common. ---
**Author:** ![leenmi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f1d935/32.png) [@leenmi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leenmi)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2003, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-spam-directly-related-to-internet-use/221537/4 "2003-12-29T05:52:34Z")
No, it just seems that way. Unless you submit your email address, a web site has no way of tying an email address to an incoming IP address. Spam fluctuates. Maybe the spammers took a few days off over Christmas. ---
**Author:** ![Declan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Declan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Declan)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2003, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-spam-directly-related-to-internet-use/221537/5 "2003-12-29T07:07:26Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by masonite \* > I came back from a weeklong vacation, no internet use, and_\* there were only 36 messages in my Hotmail account\*\*, mostly spam as usual. That’s only slightly larger than the number of messages (mostly spam) I get on any given day. I was surprised my account wasn’t flooded with hundreds of emails. > > I wonder, does email spam happen as a direct result of surfing the Internet? When I visit a site and they somehow harvest my email address, does that email come immediately, and perhaps never again (or not often again) if I don’t visit the site again? Hotmail/msn has obviously done some sort of filtering with regards to spam. I can remember 3 months ago , getting about 40 a day , now its down to about 6 , so that may be why your seeing a reduction in spam. Declan ---
**Author:** ![Hauky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/0ea827/32.png) [@Hauky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hauky)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2003, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-spam-directly-related-to-internet-use/221537/6 "2003-12-29T07:55:09Z")
I just want to chime in with a “me three” regarding a very noticeable reduction in Hotmail spam in the past few weeks. I’m finally getting my money’s worth with this free service. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2003, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-spam-directly-related-to-internet-use/221537/7 "2003-12-29T15:59:02Z")
A web site can harvest your email address if you do something very stupid: You can “customize” your browser and enter “helpful” information like email address. In fact, something that looks like an email address is needed to access anonymous ftp sites. The web site, upon contact, can ask your browser to send along all such info. So never, ever, fill in such information in your browser. If you need an “email address” to access an ftp site via your browser, use some gibberish [name@fakesite.com](mailto:name@fakesite.com). ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2003, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-spam-directly-related-to-internet-use/221537/8 "2003-12-30T07:00:42Z")
You want spam? Go to usenet - now Google Groups. I have one Email address I post there with. I posted with the wrong account…Flooded with spam. Also Efnet and Undernet bring in unwanted emails, but not in great quantities. ---
**Author:** ![WereOtter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ac91a4/32.png) [@WereOtter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WereOtter)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2003, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-spam-directly-related-to-internet-use/221537/9 "2003-12-30T08:06:05Z")
Can my email address be captured in Google Groups even if I only read messages and don’t post any? ---
**Author:** ![Berkut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a88e57/32.png) [@Berkut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Berkut)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2003, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-spam-directly-related-to-internet-use/221537/10 "2003-12-30T09:06:19Z")
No. ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2003, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-spam-directly-related-to-internet-use/221537/11 "2003-12-30T10:37:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Markxxx \* > **You want spam? Go to usenet - now Google Groups.** Sorry, but this is one of my pet peeves: Usenet is still Usenet, as it has been for over twenty years now. Deja was merely a mirror, as is Google Groups. Neither was ever Usenet.