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Throwaway Email Addresses For Everyone
from the becoming-more-popular dept
One popular anti-spam technique among certain folks is to use "throwaway" email addresses. It was probably first used by those who owned their own domains and could set up such email addresses. Buying something from Amazon? Setup an email address of amazon@mydomain.com. Then, if you discover others start spamming that address, you can just turn it off. Soon afterwards, services like Sneakemail came along to make this process easier for people. Now, it sounds like such throwaway email address are aiming to go mainstream, as a new company named ZoEmail is offering a web-based email system that works by letting you add custom "keys" to your email address. Those keys are required for anyone to email you. So, instead of just having myname@zoemail.com, you would use myname.amazon@zoemail.com. Anyone not sending an email to an address with a key will get a bounce. They're suggesting that you use this to set up unique keys for everyone that you email, though that becomes a bit of a hassle. It will be interesting to see how well this sort of solution catches on. While throwaway email addresses are useful in some cases, I'm not sure whether the average emailer is all that interested in the added complexity.
Reader Comments
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Spamgourmet
I've been using spamgourmet.com for 2 years now, and they've had the "key" feature in their addresses all along. Just for anyone's info. Spamgourmet is free!
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Similar Standard Unix Email Feature
This is very similar to a pretty standard feature of almost all Unix email servers called 'plussed email adresses'. This feature lets you prepend an email address with any text, then plus sign followed by the real address and it will get sent to the real address. For example maybespam+bob@domain.com will go to bob@domain.com.
I have been using this to great effect in sorting out mail and tracking down how spam gets to me for many years. I add the domain name to the email address when a site asks for an email address. So the email I would use here would be something like techdirt.com+jsfetzik@domain.com.
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No Subject Given
Sneakemail has also been doing the same thing, and even calls them "keys". These press releases are moronic.
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HELP MY FAMILY
From the Desk of: MR.Salaudeen Abacha.
Abacha Court, Victoria Garden City,
kano -Nigeria.
Dear Sir/Madam,
I NEED YOUR HELP May the blessing of God be upon you and grant you the
wisdom and sympathy to understand my situation and how much I need your
help. Late Gen. Sanni Abacha, ex-military Head of State (Federal Republic of
Nigeria) i was the last son who died of heart problem. Since the death of my
father, I have been subjected to all sorts of harassment's, intimidation's
and inhumane treatments, with negative reports emanating from the government
and the press regarding my father past military regime and my eldest son
Mohammed is being held. Most of our trusted Associates betrayed us because
of Ministerial Jobs and appointments.
I need your immediate help, I beg of you. I need your help to transfer what
I call "our future hope" the sum of Forty one Million United State Dollars
(US41, 000,000) from my late father private vault which he deposited into
a security firm before his death. The last transfer of Ten Million United
State Dollars (US$10,000,000) I made into a friend's foreign account in
Europe, after the successful transfer, my friend denied me my money because
of my restricted movement within Nigeria.
That is the main point why I need your help. I lost so much trying to make
transfer through some associates. This fund is considered as the main source
of my family's future hope. When this US$41 Million dollars is transferred,
my brother Okoh Bello who is also my close Confidant would be able to
establish an investment with your assistance on our family behalf until I
come out of my travail and torment.
For your information, my communication and movement are under strict
surveillance therefore make all your communications to me through my email
address. This is to ensure maximum confidentiality and secrecy. If you help
me receive this money into a foreign account, I will reward you with 25% of
the total sum I will also compensate you for your inconveniences and 5% for
expenses incurred. I am depending on this fund and I am counting on you for
my future happiness and that of my family.
I wait patiently for your response. Please include your contact details,
telephone and fax
Yours truly,
Mr Salaudeen Abacha.
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
HELP MY FAMILY
From the Desk of: MR.Salaudeen Abacha.
Abacha Court, Victoria Garden City,
kano -Nigeria.
Dear Sir/Madam,
I NEED YOUR HELP May the blessing of God be upon you and grant you the
wisdom and sympathy to understand my situation and how much I need your
help. Late Gen. Sanni Abacha, ex-military Head of State (Federal Republic of
Nigeria) i was the last son who died of heart problem. Since the death of my
father, I have been subjected to all sorts of harassment's, intimidation's
and inhumane treatments, with negative reports emanating from the government
and the press regarding my father past military regime and my eldest son
Mohammed is being held. Most of our trusted Associates betrayed us because
of Ministerial Jobs and appointments.
I need your immediate help, I beg of you. I need your help to transfer what
I call "our future hope" the sum of Forty one Million United State Dollars
(US41, 000,000) from my late father private vault which he deposited into
a security firm before his death. The last transfer of Ten Million United
State Dollars (US$10,000,000) I made into a friend's foreign account in
Europe, after the successful transfer, my friend denied me my money because
of my restricted movement within Nigeria.
That is the main point why I need your help. I lost so much trying to make
transfer through some associates. This fund is considered as the main source
of my family's future hope. When this US$41 Million dollars is transferred,
my brother Okoh Bello who is also my close Confidant would be able to
establish an investment with your assistance on our family behalf until I
come out of my travail and torment.
For your information, my communication and movement are under strict
surveillance therefore make all your communications to me through my email
address. This is to ensure maximum confidentiality and secrecy. If you help
me receive this money into a foreign account, I will reward you with 25% of
the total sum I will also compensate you for your inconveniences and 5% for
expenses incurred. I am depending on this fund and I am counting on you for
my future happiness and that of my family.
I wait patiently for your response. Please include your contact details,
telephone and fax
Yours truly,
Mr Salaudeen Abacha.
PLEASE, REPLY WITH THIS EMAIL ADDRESS;salaudeenabacha@fsmail.net
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spaminator
I find spaminator.com to work the best. What you do is pick... whatever@spaminator.com when you register, you go there and type in the username you used, and you can check your mail. within minutes the mailbox is deleted and that's that. No setup, No registration, Auto deletion.
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Re: spaminator
So, what happens when 2 people pick the same name close to the same time? Seems like a big hole.
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Re: spaminator
not quite a hole... the point isn't to use it as your permenant email address for receiving stuff. It's a onetime use email, if someone else happens to pick the same email as you, whatever. You shouldn't be using it for any sensetive information.
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correction
oops, it's called Mailinator... http://www.mailinator.com/ sorry
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