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by hackernewds 1533 days ago
Why not just use phil+craigslist@gmail.com or phil+kmart@gmail.com? same effect and lands in the same phil@gmail.com address
2 comments

Because it's not as effective if the goal is to catch spam. Spammers are already wise to the meaning of + and will strip it automatically when selling data in bulk. Plus, some services block creating accounts with the + or with their name in the address.
Block any email to the address missing the +
Then you end up with spammers simply putting gibberish after the plus sign.
How do you mean? This is exactly what I can do with my setup. If you are referring to the use of Gmail: I prefer to run my own infrastructure as long as this is possible.