This has me bothered

[Panama Red]

Wife and I have an email address that we've used for about the last 5 years. For the last 3 it has been mostly hers. Today I was checking her mail box and saw an email from someone I didn't know and was about to delete it when I noticed our street address was included in the subject line. When I opened it, I found it was addressed to me. Correct spelling of my first and last name and my home address. Sent by someone soliciting for refinancing. Neither my wife nor I have ever set up any profile associated with this mail box. So how did anyone find out who has this mail box and what the name and address is? It's an AOL box and I think I'll ask them the same question. Any ideas?

[EzyStvy]

AOL probably sold their client list to someone

[Panama Red]

My thoughts exactly! How else can they match an email name with the personal data?

[TwoRails]

Your ownership is public record. We receive, by snail mail, at least 2 solicitations a month for refinancing, and even some to just outright buy our place. So, another option is that they simply took the time to search your eddress out.

[Harry]

TwoRails, his email on AOL may or may not be of public record but his address should absolutely not be. Actually I don't think his email is of public record unless he created a profile or somehow gave it out in some other way which is very easy to do should you ever fill out some online form for something. If you are referring to home ownership, yes that is public record but usually it does not include email address.

To Panama Red I ask, have you ever bought anything online? If you have, the company you bought from might have given others your email address.

Regarding AOL, I have a friend who constantly changes his AOL email address and often puts blocks on his address so he won't get email from anyone he doesn't know. So you do have some options to stop spam and not sit there wasting your time having to find your serious mail from your spam mail.

[crjdriver]

I was receiving these "offers" for a mortgage / refi for about 3 weeks. They come from different addresses and all start out with "Just to confirm" or words to that effect.

I must have bounced 100 of those and in the last few weeks, I have not received any.

[Xayd]

Go plug your full name into Google, if you're listed in the phone book you'll turn up all of your information .

Ownership is also public, and can be pulled from public records searches (of which there are many services online).

It's not too hard to find out where someone lives.

[TwoRails]

Originally posted by Harry TwoRails.... If you are referring to home ownership, yes that is public record but usually it does not include email address...

Yep, I was referring to home ownership. Guess I should've included the word "home" in my previous post. That's how I get so many related junk snail mails (realitors / banks simply look up public records). Finding someone's email, as you know, is real easy, too. I've personally found lots of lost friends and family simply searching the Web using just a name, so what's to stop a 'hungry" realitor? Nothing

[Panama Red]

Harry: yes I've purchased many things online, but NOT from that email address. My wife has also used that box almost exclusively for the past few years and while she too has bought things online, she uses her own name.

I tried a google search of my name and my address and came up empty. I had deleted my phone from the google list over a year ago.

I sent AOL an email yesterday to see if they can explain. Be interesting to see their response. There is one company that may have all the info necessary for this info to be out. Think I'll send them a message too.