Stop Spam, One Email at a Time

Posted 05/04/2007 at 4:40pm | by

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Any web regular has probably had the experience of being asked for an email address that serves a purpose at the time, but can only lead to no good later on. Here’s a perfect example: I was recently shopping around for auto insurance and went to one of those websites that do a price comparison of all providers. In order to get the results, I had to provide an email address. Fair enough, but once I have the information I’m after, I don’t want my email address to be used for spam.

Here’s how to prevent that scenario: Create a disposable email account. 10 Minute Mail is a website solely for this purpose. Go to the site, click “Get My 10 Minute Mail e-mail address,” and, voila, there it is. Copy and paste the address into your online form; then return to the 10 Minute Mail web page. By refreshing the page, you can access messages as they arrive in a handy inbox (a “Give me 10 more minutes” option lets you extend your use of the address).

Once you’ve taken care of business, you can then go about your way, secure in the knowledge that the email address has expired.