Monday, 14 February 2022

IMPROVE YOUR SECURITY WITH TEMPMAILS



Imagine that I want to try an online service  but they ask me to use my e-mail address and create an account. I don’t know whether I will like it or not so, why do I need to create an account? Anyhow, I decide to continue, I can’t resist using it, so I type my email address. After 5 minutes, I receive about 3 emails, and at least one every day in the following days. I shouldn’t have made that mistake, I think.

This is only an example but, probably,  everyone receives a lot of spam only by using an online service once, so I decided to help you prevent all that junk!

 

DISCLAIMER

These services can also be meant for web “hacking” or illegal activities: you and only you are responsible for what you make.

This article is intended to protect you and improve your privacy from unsafe/junk or not well-known sites and  also the help you give a service or a website a try without a real account.

Also fake data (for ex. name, birthday...) are intended as a simple way to protect yourself, make sure to check before creating a fake account if what you are making is really legal, if not, I suggest you use your real data and only use a temp-mail email.

 

 START WITH FAKE DATA

 To “protect” yourself, only and only if you don’t trust the service, don’t use just a fake email, but also fake data:

-        name and surname: don’t put your real name, or they could know who you are, for example, I suggest to you to use a common name like “John Doe”

-        birthday: don’t use your birthday, but use one,  such as 01/01/2001, that is also very simple to remember

-        phone number (if required and without confirmation): don’t put your real phone number or they could spam you via SMS, like emails. Try using a fake phone number that seems real (ex. using your real phone number with last 3 numbers changed)

-        don’t use a password you use for “real” services: if you use a common password you use and this service is unsafe, a hacker could steal it and try to login with it on other services, until it works with someone (that could be also you).

-        use a disposable mail: read below

 

BEFORE CONTINUING

You may be wondering why I suggested to you to use a real temp-mail and not to think of one, as I suggested for your phone number. If you look at the image below you will understand 

 


 

This is an example from Microsoft after account creation, which asks you to check your email and put the code into it.

So, the answer is that if I didn’t do that, I would discover I couldn’t continue because I don’t have real access to that “fake” email, but in this way I can, instead. It is not as simple with a phone number, in fact, if you find a service, it will cost you some cents. So, if a service like Google asks you for a phone number, this guide can’t help you and you have to find another way or, I’m afraid, put your real phone number.

Remember Google shouldn’t be considered as an unsafe service,  it should rather be considered as one of the most secure, so you wouldn’t need to use my tips.

 

CREATE A DISPOSABLE EMAIL

I recommend to use a service called 10minutemail, that is simple to use and secure, because it only gains by ads on the site and not viruses.

After page loading, you will see an email address up on the left (1) and a button (2). Just click on the button to copy and paste into the registration form. 

 


 

GET EMAIL CONFIRMATION PIN OR LINK

 

Usually there are two ways a service can check your email, a pin or a link.

For both you need to open received emails on the temp-mail service. To do that, scroll down the page previously opened. Find “email confirmation”, click on it and, for the pin, copy it and paste in the proper field of the service, instead for the link right click it and open it in a new tab (if you don’t  "open in a new tab", you could close your temp-mail).

 

BEWARE WHEN USING TEMP-MAILS

 

-        don’t use it for illegal activities: this is only to prevent you to have email spam, not to make account spamming on secure services (for ex., obtain more than one free trial on the same website)

-        you can’t send any email from it: temp-mails only receive mails and don’t send them

-        if you are using a temp-mail, it’s temporary, so, after closing the page, it’s lost: if your service sends more emails,   you won’t get them

-        some services could block your email address: not all online services allow you to use these awkward emails so, to prevent a block, just search online for other services (like temp-mail.org) and see if they work

Giorgio B., 3sc

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