This email trick scam artists love will make your life easier, too
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You may have heard of throwaway or disposable email addresses and wondered why anyone would need one. But you might be surprised by how having one can come in handy. Although they may sound like something only scam artists use, there are several legitimate reasons to set up a throwaway email address, which is offered through services such as Yahoo Mail Plus.
Try Yahoo Mail Plus for 14 days free*. After that, it's just $5 per month.
A few examples of when a disposable email address is helpful:
You'd like to get notified when a product is back in stock or want to sign up for a store's loyalty card, but you'd rather not be bombarded with email promotions. By using a throwaway email address instead, you won't clog your inbox. Plus, if the online store gets hacked, your real email address won't get stolen.
You want to get a discount while shopping online or want to find out more information about a product or service without the headache of multiple follow-up emails.
You want to set up an email address the entire family can use, but you don't want your inbox flooded with emails meant for your children.
Yahoo Mail Plus lets you create up to 500 temporary email addresses, which you can simply delete whenever you're done using them. The mail service has other handy features, including letting you see all of the mailing lists you've subscribed to on one screen so you can quickly unsubscribe with one click.
Try Yahoo Mail Plus for 14 days free*. After that, it's just $5 per month.
“The best rule to attain and keep a clean, stress-free inbox is to never provide your information unless you have to,” Richard Roth, chief executive officer and founder of Progressive Tech, tells Yahoo Life. "Any time you give out your email, you should, at the very least, expect to be automatically signed up for a mailing list. It is likely that your address will be shared, bought, or stolen as well."
Before sharing your email address, Roth says, “Ask yourself if this is information you need to provide in this case. Many loyalty, discount, and rewards programs are just conduits to track you and deliver relevant ads.”
Roth notes that managing email systems today can be "extremely frustrating." He says, "Modern life, especially post-pandemic, requires the constant need to fill out forms for everyday events and needed services. This means providing personal contact information and opening your inbox to the scourge of aggressive mailing lists, spam, fraud, and fishing. Fortunately, there are some good solutions to help, including advanced spam protection, disposable and temporary email accounts, personalized address tracking, and more.”
Another benefit of using disposable email addresses? Used properly, you can figure out what company sold your information to a third party. “My personal favorite way to manage unwanted communications is to set up a unique email for each service, which forwards back to one of your main accounts," says Roth. "When you provide your alias, use the name of the service/company — use a unique name that clearly identifies the requestor. If/when you get messages, it will be clear where who spammed/sold/shared your address."
Roth recommends setting up a unique throwaway email address for each of your accounts. "You can have one for your bank, one for your utility bill, one for your salon, etc.," he says. "If one of the email aliases gets completely bombarded, you can simply shut it off and make a new one. While this may seem complicated, it's fairly easy to set up with the help of a trained tech support professional.”
Shop it: Yahoo Mail Plus, 14-day free trial then $5 a month, subscriptions.yahoo.com
Read more from Yahoo Life:
What can hackers do with my email address? A lot. Here's how to protect your identity
Cracked your phone screen? Inbox loaded with ads? Yahoo Plus makes managing your digital life easier
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