Many email addresses are bought and sold all over the place, also, some are simply squired through deception (like those "YOU CAN WIN A ...... " popups that require an email address entry) or nasty ***** using keyloggers. Places like MySpace, Google (G-Mail), facebook and potentially any commercially oriented site may keep a record of your email address and it's at risk then of being passed, sold, stolen or whatever to/by the unscrupulous.
There's also a possibility your email address was taken from someone who you have had email correspondence with, or at least, they have your email address in their address-book. Not through ntention, though, these others may have been infected by some malware, hich has simpoly grabbed your email address from their contact list. Resulting in the problm, but no trace of anything amiss will appear on your computer or email account.
These addresses may either be targetted specifically, or used as suggested above in spoofing, so that email 'from' field is changed to display the chosen address.
If you use a local-based client, you may be able ot store sent message. This at least, will show if the emails are actually being sent from your account or not. Some malware* (and some legitimate progs too, such as things to report crash logs etc.) can actually send emails from your main "identity" or "preferred account" without even fully opening your client. Another trick some malware can do, is check through Instant Messenger prog contact lists, the WAB address book and certainly emails displayed in browsed webpages, Tese addresses are then used in lists as mentioned in my first sentence.
I have a trick to at least acknowledging the difference between spammer risks and more privacy-aware email requiring forms. Simply I enter my name with a subtle spelling "mistake". When I receive spam emails with the spelling mistake "Dear Mr. ZCZZXXZZFCV (for example only ;) )" I know that that particular 'company' to whiom the email address was given, is untrustworthy as far as any 'privay policy' is concerned (whether intentional or not).
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