If they remove the "+microsoft" portion mailing me, that email is sent to my spambox and reported to spamcop, because I did not sign up with that address; the address I signed up with has the +etc infix.
Eventually I figure companies will get wise to this and I'll have to set up my own server which does the same trick with an underscore instead of the "+" sign.
You can make addresses on the fly like [email protected] (which will automatically be resolved and sent to [email protected]) and you'll save the hassle of having to run and maintain your own mail server.
You don't use a '+' at all in the fastmail email addresses you give out.
For example, say with gmail you have [email protected], with fastmail you could use that if you wanted, but you can also use [email protected]
If fastmail receives mail on that address, it converts it for you as if it had been sent to [email protected] instead.
This happens entirely on the fly so you can make 'proper looking' emails without a '+'
I use [email protected] for each service, and i catch every email regardless of mail address.
Sure they can manually fool me or use more sophisticated regex to find their service name (and i can obfuscate it), but in practically all cases i know which service has leaked my address if i get spam against a certain address that's not the service i signed up for.
Related tutorial on how to set that up in Postfix: https://www.stevejenkins.com/blog/2011/03/how-to-use-address...
I recommend using a personal domain and a mail service that offers catch-all filters. Stuff regex on that and you can also filter all emails of this type into a specific folder.
If it's just a Regex check then you can just use [email protected]. If it requires you to click on a verification link in the email then that is quite a high bar for you to go through to obtain something of `no value`.
If it's a walled garden, which more are becoming because it's the path to VC money, you have no way to know until you're inside.
Most organizations who do this crap also require you click a link in the email to activate the account.
I didn't have to click a button or anything to create it. It just exists, thanks to the pattern. Here's how I did it:
https://www.grepular.com/Automatically_Expiring_Email_Addres...
But not really :/
No need to block the temporary email, but you might use that information for other purposes, like having it be some weight to a fraud detection system. Note, not calling it out as fraud outright, but using it as one data point among others.
I just provide the tool for those in need.
Please by all means explain this to me.
My point is, if you can't be bothered to create an extra email address for this purpose, then you probably aren't that concerned about it.
But I'm subject to being wrong.
Too often now sites/app want a login for no benefit other than to SPAM me with newsletters and crap I never wanted. That's why I use disposable email addresses, you're providing me no real value, at least sight unseen, but I must give you something I know is valuable-- my contact information.