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The other catch with the ex-girlfriend/boyfriend is that they are not really after bank details so the Barclay's email won't interest them as it would the professional criminal... The problem with the canary is that it is trying to tailor a trap to someone without knowing much about them.

Which is another reason why the IP-based approach works better.

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The IP-based approach seems flawed from my pov as someone who travels often. I'm always checking in from various IP addresses. Even locals who like to log in from the nearest cafe would get false positives, while the canary approach is more targeted.

You would get a false positive just after logging in from an unknown IP, but you would also know that it was due to your own actions (and could therefore ignore it).

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