Do you signup for online newsletters regularly?
Maybe you'd like to but you're worried whether your email address will be sold to spammers (we never do that by the way).
Or perhaps you'd rather keep your 'proper' email address for work purposes and don't want non-work related emails making their way into your inbox.
Or maybe you've tried signing up to newsletters in the past just to sample them, only to find that the unsubscribing process is more painful than going to the dentist.
If any of the above resonates with you then this little recipe might be just what you've been looking for.
Now go to a website which offers an email newsletter that you're interested in signing up for.
In the email box enter your email address like this: emailaddress+fake@gmail.com. Replace the 'emailaddress' with your own email address. You can put any word after the plus sign that you like – I often put the initials of the website or some other way of knowing where I signed up for this particular newsletter. That way, if they sell my details I know immediately!
Enter any other details that might be required (first name is often requested though not mandatory) and submit the form.
You'll know it has worked when you get the first email from that website – in most cases this will be an email asking you to confirm your subscription – and it is sent to your 'fake' account.
Be aware though that if you reply to any of those emails, your normal Gmail address will be used rather than the fake one that you've created.
Want to stop getting emails?
If you want to stop getting emails from that particular source you can of course unsubscribe or simply set up a filter in Gmail that sends all emails with that particular 'fake' address to the rubbish bin.