How to Use Disposable Email Addresses at Your Web Site

Using disposable email addresses in forms on the Web and for mailing lists is a great way to stop spam.

With a little effort you can even use them on your home page, too, and allow legitimate mail from unknown senders while keeping out spam.

Use Disposable Email Addresses at Your Web Site

Use a disposable email address in the mailto: links on your site instead of your real one. Depending on the mail that comes in, you take two different sets of actions:

• If a stranger sends you a legitimate email that you welcome, she gets her own special disposable email address. Create a new disposable email address and send a reply including the information that any further emails should only be sent to the new, dedicated disposable email address. Make sure you also set the Reply-to: header to that new disposable address.
• If spam arrives at the disposable email address posted on your home page, disable the address immediately and replace it with a new disposable email address. This will stop all further spam sent to the old disposable address, but it won't hamper mail from all the welcome senders since they already have their own dedicated disposable email address.

(Of course you can also give welcome senders your real email address instead of a dedicated disposable one if they claim that "you don't trust me.")