Do you think spammers know when you log into your email?

Question

I see an unusual trend, when I log into my gmail account often multiple times a day, I get a lot of spams, usually in the order of 100-200 per day. If I don't login for a week, I maybe get 20-30 a day.

So, either the spammers know via cookies (flash or standard) or somehow can see the online status of my gmail. I have my account hidden from outsiders and no one can chat with me if they're not on my friends list. I also have no malware on my machine and I carefully monitor network activity. I also keep track of website scripts and whitelist semi-trusted sites so some may have gotten through.

Is it always a good idea to dump all of your firefox history after you close a session of browsing? Then open up ccleaner to get rid of flash cookies? I think these two things would minimize spam to a degree.

Answer 1

If you open the spam they know it. A web beacon is usually embedded in the message.





"A web bug is an object that is embedded in a web page or e-mail and is usually invisible to the user but allows checking that a user has viewed the page or e-mail. One common use is in e-mail tracking. Alternative names are web beacon, tracking bug, tracking pixel, pixel tag, 1×1 gif, and clear gif."

Answer 2

it particularly is a scam that has been going around for months, probable years. Your first clue grew to become into as quickly as, "warning! do now no longer tell persons approximately your Prize Award till your money is wisely passed over to you to stay clean of disqualification which will upward thrust up from double declare." Mark it as junk mail and delete it. and end organising emails like this...that's no longer from Yahoo.

Answer 3

Spammers don't know when you log into your email. The only people that know when you log into your email is Google (if you're using Gmail), yourself, and any of your "friends" on Gmail. By friends, I mean the list of contacts that you've allowed to see when you're online, and what you're doing.