2026-11-11 01:19 UTC
@VeroniqueB99@mastodon.social A similar variant of this trick is useful for email addresses, using the plus sign. Mail to "foo+bar@gmail.com" goes to "foo@gmail.com", but you can still see the address it was sent to.
This means you can sign up for things with an email address such as "mm4+walmart@gmail.com" and if you see spam to that address, you know it was Walmart that leaked your data.
Most major email services work this way, but it is worthwhile to check by sending a test email before using this technique for anything important.
Replies (2)
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@VeroniqueB99@mastodon.social 2026-11-11 01:24
@MaddieM4@raphus.social I'm bookmarking this! TY! I already have a spam address but that doesn't prove the others that I don't send to my spam email don't sell my data....
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@nosaj@aus.social 2026-11-11 03:20
@MaddieM4@raphus.social @VeroniqueB99@mastodon.social The amount of times I tell my email address with +"business name" and the person filling the form is like "wow you have the company name in your email address, what a coincidence!" 🤣