How do these idiots that email junk?

Like others have said, protect your personal email account by not

using it to subscribe to websites and NEVER post it online.

Other recommendations:

Use Hotmail alias accounts that can easily be set up and cancelled

for use online. See info in link below.

http://techrena.net/hotmail-email-alias/

If you are now being bombarded with spam in your personal account,

the best and only way to get rid of spam is to open a new account and

protect it. A strong email address is just as important as a strong password.

NEVER open an email unless you are sure you know who it is from. If you

open a spam email the sender will know he has a "live one" and will continue

sending you spam.

Every time you create an email account or sign up for a website your addy is put on a mailing list. Any time you buy something online your email addy is put on a list. 2 things you might do. Create an email account strictly for personal use for only your closest contacts. Mark email as spam when you receive it. Use a secondary account for joining sites, or buying online. You'll never stop it but you can curb a lot of it.

they get it from the internet... forums, social community sites (myspace, facebook, twitter, etc) as well as chat rooms and even yahoo. If you have an email linked and associated with what you're doing, it's possible that email can be compromised.