How do spammers gather private e-mail addresses?

Question

How do spammers gather private e-mail addresses, and what is a mail server, and how do spammers invade these servers?

Answer 1

Spammer can get private emails:

1. Using special bots that "scan" the web for pages with emails (forums, blogs, etc);

2. Buying databases from email providers (once a huge portion of hotmail emails - over 300,000 in number - was sold by a Microsoft employee fired for addiction to gambling);

3. Stealing databases;

4. Generating emails (special software is used to "guess" emails with most popular patterns, e.g. [e-mail] or [e-mail]).

A mail server is a computer used to

a) relay email traffic, both incoming and outgoing;

b) store databases with emails addresses;

c) both.

Spammers can hack email servers just like they hack CIA or Pentagon computers, and steal loads of data.

Answer 2

You should never use your primary e-mail address to log onto websites. Owners of these websites can harvest the address and sell them. This is one way they get them.

Poorly configured websites and exchange servers are another way.

Another way is "Relay" by logging onto an exchange server and using it to send e-mail address, this is getting rare with modern security.

Hacking.

Lots of ways actually, even some Trojans and worms harvest ID and then send it.

Cheers