The Rise of Phishing Attacks and How Temp Emails Help
Phishing thrives on guessing your real inbox. Disposable addresses make the guess worthless.
Phishing has matured from "Nigerian prince" emails into precisely-targeted, branded campaigns that imitate real services. The cheapest defensive layer the average user can deploy is one most people overlook: do not give phishers a target to aim at.
Why your real inbox is the target
Phishing campaigns work from breach lists. The more services know your real address, the more lists it ends up on, and the more credible-looking phishing reaches you. Reducing how many sites see your real address shrinks that surface area.
Disposable addresses as decoys
A phishing email arriving at a disposable address you used six months ago for a single newsletter is a strong tell that the newsletter was breached. You can ignore the email and never trust that domain again — without any worry that your real accounts were the target.
Combine with other habits
- Password manager (no reused passwords for the phisher to stuff)
- Hardware-backed 2FA on accounts that matter
- Never click "verify" from an email — open the site directly