Protect Your Email with Aliases

Email aliases let you hide an email address behind any number of generated email addresses that will forward their incoming messages to the hidden email address.

Why protect your email?

In today's digital age, protecting your identity and email address online is crucial. Here are a few reasons why:

Protecting your privacy

Your email address is often used as a unique identifier for your online presence. This can include your social media accounts, shopping websites, and other online services. By protecting your email address, you can limit the amount of personal information that is available online and prevent others from tracking your activities.

Preventing spam

Once your email address is available online, it can easily be added to spam mailing lists. This can result in an overwhelming amount of unwanted emails, which can be frustrating to deal with. By protecting your email address, you can reduce the likelihood of receiving spam emails.

Avoiding phishing attacks

Phishing attacks are a common online scam where attackers attempt to trick you into revealing your personal information or login credentials. Attackers often use fake emails or websites that appear to be legitimate, but are actually designed to steal your information. By protecting your email address and being cautious about the emails you receive, you can reduce the risk of falling victim to these attacks.

Protecting your reputation

Your email address is often associated with your professional and personal reputation. If your email address is compromised, it can result in embarrassing or damaging messages being sent to your contacts. This can damage your reputation and affect your relationships with others.

Maintaining control of your online presence

By protecting your email address, you can maintain control of your online presence. This includes being able to manage your online accounts, control the information that is available about you online, and prevent others from using your identity for their own purposes.

Overall, protecting your identity and email address online is essential for maintaining your privacy, security, and reputation. By taking steps to protect your email address, you can reduce the risk of spam, phishing attacks, and other online scams, and maintain control of your online presence.

What is an alias

Email aliases keep your email address hidden.

An alias is an email address that can be used to mask another email address. When the alias receives an email it will be forwarded automatically to the email address it was created for.

You can manage aliases using the API, SDKs, or the dashboard.

Verification

You must manually verify an alias before it is active if the email address has not been validated for your account before.

Code example

Here is an example of how to use aliases using the official Javascript SDK and Jest.

/**
 * Example of using an email alias to mask an address and forward emails to hidden address
 */
const fetchApi = require('isomorphic-fetch');
const {
  AliasControllerApi,
  InboxControllerApi,
  Configuration,
  WaitForControllerApi,
} = require('mailslurp-client');

// setup mailslurp config
const config = new Configuration({ apiKey, fetchApi });

// create controllers
const inboxControllerApi = new InboxControllerApi(config);
const aliasControllerApi = new AliasControllerApi(config);
const waitForController = new WaitForControllerApi(config);

// create two different email addresses for testing
const inboxA = await inboxControllerApi.createInbox({ name: 'inboxA' });
const inboxB = await inboxControllerApi.createInbox({ name: 'inboxB' });
const emailAddressA = inboxA.emailAddress!!;
const emailAddressB = inboxB.emailAddress!!;

// create an alias
const alias = await aliasControllerApi.createAlias({
  createAliasOptions: {
    emailAddress: emailAddressA,
    useThreads: true,
  },
});
// emailAddressA has been masked by a new email address that was created by the alias
expect(alias.maskedEmailAddress).toEqual(emailAddressA);
expect(alias.emailAddress).not.toEqual(emailAddressA);

// alias isn't verified until you click the confirmation link sent to the aliased address
expect(alias.isVerified).toEqual(true);

Then to receive the emails:

// can send email from inboxB to alias that should be delivered to inboxA
const sent = await inboxControllerApi.sendEmailAndConfirm({
  inboxId: inboxB.id!!,
  sendEmailOptions: {
    to: [alias.emailAddress!!],
    subject: 'Hello inbox A',
    body: 'From inbox B',
  },
});

expect(sent['from']).toContain(inboxB.emailAddress);
expect(sent.to).toContain(alias.emailAddress);

// now expect email is forwarded by alias to InboxA
const forwardedEmail = await waitForController.waitForLatestEmail({
  inboxId: inboxA.id,
  unreadOnly: true,
  timeout: 30000,
});

// received message
expect(forwardedEmail.subject).toContain('Hello inbox A');
// reply to is a thread address meaning your replies can be routed through a thread
expect(forwardedEmail.replyTo).not.toEqual(emailAddressA);
expect(forwardedEmail.replyTo).not.toEqual(emailAddressB);

Other options

• Auto forwarding: automated email forwarding rules
• Inbox repliers: configure automatic replies for inboxes with matching patterns

For information see the developers page.

Conclusion

Using a secret email address proxy is a good idea for those who want to protect their privacy and identity online. There are several reasons why this is a wise move.

Firstly, it helps to prevent spam and unwanted emails from reaching your personal email address. When you use a secret email address proxy, you can create a separate email address that is used solely for online activities. This email address is not linked to your personal information, and you can use it to sign up for newsletters, online services, or any other activities that require an email address. This way, you can avoid receiving spam and unwanted emails in your personal inbox, which can be time-consuming and frustrating to deal with.

Secondly, using a secret email address proxy can help protect your identity online. When you use your personal email address to sign up for online services, it becomes easier for others to track your online activity and potentially identify you. By using a separate email address, you can keep your online activity private and limit the amount of personal information that is available online.

Lastly, using a secret email address proxy can provide an added layer of security. If your email address is compromised, it can lead to a variety of security issues, such as identity theft or unauthorized access to your personal accounts. By using a separate email address, you can limit the impact of any potential security breaches, and you can take steps to protect your personal information. Overall, using a secret email address proxy is a good idea for those who value their privacy and want to protect their identity online.