Stop Spam Before It Starts

Spam filters are good at catching spam after it reaches your inbox.

Disposable email is better: it prevents spam from ever knowing your real address.

The Spam Problem

Traditional approach to spam:

1. Give real email to website
2. Website sells it to marketing list
3. Marketing list sells it to 47 other lists
4. You receive 200 spam emails/day
5. Set up filters to catch spam
6. Manually unsubscribe from each sender
7. Still get spam (they ignore unsubscribe)
8. Mark as spam, report, block
9. New senders appear using different domains
10. Repeat forever

You're playing defense against an endless stream of attackers.

The Better Approach: Don't Get on the List

With disposable email:

1. Give temp email to website
2. Website sells it to marketing list
3. Marketing emails go to dead address
4. Your real inbox: zero spam

Prevention beats filtering.

Where Spam Comes From

Understanding the sources helps you defend:

Source 1: You Gave It to Them

"Enter email to download this free PDF!"

You: [email protected]
Site: Thanks! [adds to marketing list]
Next day: "BUY OUR COURSE! 🚀"
Every day after: "LIMITED TIME OFFER! 💰"

Solution: Use disposable email for any "free" content gate.

Source 2: They Sold Your Email

You signed up for a legitimate service. They sold your email to "partners."

Day 1: Sign up for fitness app with real email
Day 30: Fitness app sends your email to:
  → Supplement companies
  → Workout gear brands
  → Diet programs
  → "Wellness" MLMs
  
Your inbox: Flooded with fitness spam

Solution: Use disposable for any service you don't 100% trust long-term.

Source 3: Data Breach

Site gets hacked. Your email ends up in breach databases sold on dark web.

2024: Sign up for SmallStartup.com
2025: SmallStartup gets breached
2026: Your email is in 17 different spam databases
Result: 50+ spam emails/day from random senders

Solution: Use disposable. If breached, the leaked email is already dead.

Source 4: Email Scraping

Bots crawl websites looking for email addresses:

Your email on website: [email protected]
Bot finds it: [adds to spam list]
Next day: Spam flood begins

Solution: Never post real email publicly. Use contact forms or disposable addresses.

Source 5: "Guessing" Attacks

Spammers try common email patterns:

[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]

They send to millions of variations. Some hit real addresses.

Solution: Use disposable for risky signups so guessing attacks hit dead addresses.

How Disposable Email Prevents Each Source

Free Content Gates

Before:

"Download our whitepaper"
Email: [email protected]
[Gets added to sales funnel]
Next 6 months: Weekly sales emails

After:

"Download our whitepaper"
Email: [email protected]
[Gets PDF immediately]
[Address expires in 10 minutes]
[Sales emails go to void]

Untrusted Services

Before:

Sign up for sketch app: [email protected]
They sell email to 20 partners
Inbox floods with spam

After:

Sign up for sketchy app: [email protected]
They sell dead address
Spam goes nowhere

Data Breaches

Before:

Site breached → your real email leaked
Spammers have it forever
Permanent spam problem

After:

Site breached → temp address leaked
Address expired months ago
Spam bounces

Newsletter Overload

Before:

Subscribe to newsletter: [email protected]
"You might also like these 5 newsletters!"
[Auto-subscribed to all 5]
Inbox: 30 newsletters/week

After:

Subscribe to newsletter: [email protected]
Read the one article you wanted
Address expires
Never hear from them again

Real-World Spam Reduction

Case Study: Developer Testing

Before disposable email:

• 200+ test signups with Gmail+aliases
• Inbox: 50 marketing emails/day from test services
• Had to manually unsubscribe from each
• Still got "We miss you!" re-engagement emails

After disposable email:

• All test signups use temp addresses
• Inbox: 0 marketing emails from tests
• Zero manual cleanup
• Test spam never reaches real inbox

Spam reduction: 100%

Strategic Email Usage

Use this tier system to minimize spam:

Tier 1: Real Email (No Spam Expected)

• Your bank
• Work/school
• Government services
• Password manager
• Trusted family/friends

Spam level: Near zero (these don't sell emails)

Tier 2: Email Alias (Some Spam OK)

• Netflix, Spotify (trusted subscriptions)
• Amazon, shopping (will send promos, but you might want them)
• Professional networks (LinkedIn)

Use [email protected] so you can:

• Filter to folders
• Track if they sell your email
• Unsubscribe from specific aliases

Spam level: Low to moderate (controlled)

Tier 3: Disposable Email (Zero Spam Tolerance)

• Free trials
• One-time downloads
• Sketchy websites
• Testing/throwaway accounts
• Anything you're unsure about

Spam level: Zero (address is dead before spam can start)

Spam Filter vs. Spam Prevention

Filters are reactive. Disposable email is proactive.

The Compound Effect

Over time, spam accumulates:

Year 1 (giving out real email):

• 50 signups
• 10 sell your email
• 20 spam emails/day

Year 2:

• 100 more signups
• 20 more sell your email
• 50 spam emails/day

Year 5:

• 300 total signups
• 60 sold your email
• 150+ spam emails/day
• Inbox unusable

With disposable email:

• Use temp address for 280 signups
• Only 20 have your real email (the ones you trust)
• Spam: ~5 emails/day (from the trusted ones' promos)
• Inbox stays clean forever

Advanced Techniques

Subdomain Bypass

Some sites block known disposable domains:

❌ Blocked: [email protected]
❌ Blocked: [email protected]

tempy.email uses subdomains:

✅ Works: [email protected]
✅ Works: [email protected]

Each address has unique subdomain, making blocklists ineffective.

Webhook Integration

For services you'll use for a week but not forever:

// Create mailbox with webhook
const mailbox = await createMailboxWithWebhook({
  webhook_url: 'https://yourapp.com/email-webhook'
});

// Emails forward to your webhook for processing
// No spam in your personal inbox

Perfect for:

• Client projects (project ends, webhook ends)
• Temporary collaborations
• One-off integrations

The Bottom Line

Spam filters ask: "Is this spam?"
Disposable email asks: "How did they get my address?"

Filters fight spam after it arrives.
Disposable email ensures it never arrives.

Your inbox, your rules.

Next time a website asks for your email, ask yourself: "Do I trust them with my real address?"

If the answer isn't a strong "yes," use tempy.email. Your future self will thank you when your inbox isn't drowning in spam.