I need an alternative email address

[HILF]

I've stuck with my current email address (from my ISP NTLWORLD as was)for years, but I now want to visit sites where I would prefer more anonymity (I'll leave the type of site to your imagination!)

So, some questions from a computer illiterate:

Where can I get a new, anonymous address from?
Will I need to pay?
How can I ensure annonymity? - I sometimes see popups, etc. that have accurately pinpointed my physical location.

Any advice, recommendations gratefully received - I did look through the FAQs but nothing seemed to fit the bill.


VMTIA

HILF

[S'land]

Try opening a hotmail or yahoo account. Both are free.

[Saab Dastard]

HILF,

I sometimes see popups, etc. that have accurately pinpointed my physical location.

This is because you have been assigned an IP address by your ISP, either fixed or DHCP. It is only this IP address that is providing location information, and even that is of your ISP local router, not yours.

It is possible to sign up with an internet proxy, so that all your web traffic appears to originate from the proxy address. Google "anonymous surfing" for more.

But that has nothing to do with email.

What do you want to change in your email address? You can go to any number of free providers like hotmail, gmail, yahoo etc. etc. to get a completely new email address.

You can almost certainly add an "alias" to your existing email account, so that emails to the alias arrive in your existing mailbox. You can probably also set up an additional mailbox with your ISP - NTL is the same as Blueyonder and Virgin now, and with blueyonder I have 5 mailboxes. Obviously all these options would still leave you with a [email protected] email domain name.

Finally, you could choose and register your own domain name, which then allows you to configure any number of email addresses for that domain, and have all emails to that domain forwarded to your existing NTL address.

SD

[ZH875]

Have a look at www.temporaryinbox.com (http://www.temporaryinbox.com/) for temporary email addresses for whatever type of sites you like to visit.

[poss]

As Saab says, NTL addresses have multiple mail boxes. Around 15 I think.
The draw backs with proxy servers are mainly to do with flash and java applications not working. Anything that actually hides your IP wont work on our type of IP address.

[Pontius Navigator]

Another site is Pookmail.com

This is a 24 hr perishable mailbox. HiLF, I use the same sites as you do, looking for used cars etc. If you use your own address you will be spammed for ever more.

Use Pookmail and the automatic systems will keep pouring the rubbish into your account for days even. You can reply from the Pookmail account although you cannot start an email thread.

If you look at a simple address, say [email protected], you will probably find a whole raft of emails for 'roger'. Right now there are 10 such messages. Any Roger can find them. If you want a more discrete address then Roger4321 is empty.

Messages to Roger4321 will disappear after 24 hrs.

[HILF]

Many thanks to all who took the time and trouble to help this technophobe out - looks like the easiest permanent solution is another ntl (virgin meeja) address, but the "one time use" addresses appeal for other uses! :E

P Nav - How did you guess I was looking for a used car? No - really - I am, and I'm getting so fed up with spam email, car dealers are even dodgy in cyberspace (I suppose this should not have come as a surprise :*).


VMT

HILF

[tallsandwich]

http://www.10minutemail.com/10MinuteMail/index.html

Didn't read all the posts, sorry if this is already mentioned.

[bnt]

When a site identifies your location, it doesn't mean that you've been uniquely identified: there are geolocation services that can work that out from your IP address alone. If you go to http://www.ip2location.com/ it will tell you where it thinks you are.

[Bob Lenahan]

Slightly off topic, but if I eliminate my email addresses and open a new one from a different provider (free), that does not eliminate me from spamers because the ISP is still ther same- correct?
thanks.

[Pontius Navigator]

Slightly off topic, but if I eliminate my email addresses and open a new one from a different provider (free), that does not eliminate me from spamers because the ISP is still ther same- correct?
thanks.

Bob, far simpler, just change your email address, no need to change ISP.

I have a cousin, now on his 3rd name from the same ISP. You get spammed because you become active on the net, no other reason. What you need is a filter like Mailwasher. It downloads only the headers. It matches spammers with their database. It suggests Spam and it allows you to create automatic filters.

One set of spammers even send email from ME. It is quite disconcerting to see an incoming email from [email protected]. Before that they sent it from [email protected]. That was easy to filter, the PN one was more difficult.

[A2QFI]

Get yourself a Google mail address for free or, for $10 a year, get yourself 500 disposable addresses at www.spamex.com. If you start getting spammed just close one address and open another.