Sadly there are any number of ways your Email address can be obtianed. There are web sites that can extract this information just by you visiting it.

In addition it is available to every server on the internet that is used to pass mail which most large servers do. There are also large companies that sell it.

Some ways you can stop seeing the spam is to setup rules on your email program. AOL and most IPS companies now have some sort of spam blocking that you can setup with certail words in the body of the email that will not pass them on to you. I use Outlook and Outlook Express and both allow me to do that directly. I either tell it not to download that email or to delete it before I even see it.

Another thing to can do to help is to not uses Browser Addons like Hot-Bar. They are spy ware programs that are designed to gather and send information about the places you visit and information you type into the browser.

You can go to the address below and download a free program that will check your system for spy ware and remove it. It should be used just like Anit-Virus Software.

Install the Ad-Aware program only.
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/

Hope this helps.
Heather