A LinkedIn user and business owner has revealed a tip for discovering who may have sold your email address to marketers.
In a LinkedIn post, Sam Jones shared his life hack, as he expressed why people should include a website’s name as their “middle name” when signing up for something online.
“Top tip: When you sign up for anything online, put the website name as your middle name,” he wrote. “That way when you receive spam emails, you will know who sold your info. I share this every year, but it’s always worth repeating.”
According to his LinkedIn Profile, Jones is the founder of Genr8 Ads, a software development company that works with other companies to provide media for “anticipated audiences”, offer insight about customers’ habits, and promotes brands in order to “drive action”.
Previously, Jones was also a global advertising specialist and global brand manager for Red Bull in Austria.
As of 15 June, Jones’ post has more than 8,300 reactions and over 200 comments, as fellow LinkedIn users praised him for sharing this email tip.
“That works all the time,” one wrote, while another said: “Genius!! Love it lol.”
A third user added: Brilliant hack... I never thought about this though…”
Other people noted how they could still end up getting spam emails and asked what to do next, after discovering which websites had stolen their email addresses.
“And then what – Can you sue?” one asked, while another wrote: “I see. But with this practice I would still receive the same number of spam emails for the extra effort. What to do after finding who’s selling my info?”
Some LinkedIn members questioned the security of the internet today and claimed that regardless of if this hack works or not, some websites can still sell people’s email addresses.
“I think every website/app sells your info. No need for such hard work,” one wrote. “ Anyways, we can’t do anything as we all checked that terms and conditions box.”
