Scammers may have obtained your email address from a variety of sources.
They may have used a spam mailing list on which your address is listed with or without your consent. (These lists are sometimes created from online contest entries. Always be sure to check out the legitimacy of a company before you enter their
online contest.)
They may have obtained your address via spyware installed without your knowledge on your PC. (Make sure your computer is protected against spyware.)
They may have created hundreds of thousands of email addresses randomly by combining first and last names and known domain names, one of which happens to be your personal email address
Once scam artists find an email address that works, they may be tempted to send emails to that address over and over again.
Though phishing is generally associated with email, some computer criminals use the phone as well. In this case, pirates call victims on the phone and pose as a financial institution employee, an investigator or a police officer.
To learn more about how to recognize a phishing email, see 4 telltale signs of a phishing email.