Stop spam at the source.

Spam filters are useful. They examine incoming mail, look for suspicious patterns and move likely junk out of sight. But even an excellent filter is dealing with messages after somebody has already obtained your address.

Filtering treats the message, not the route

A sender can change wording, domains and delivery systems. Filters adapt, senders adapt back, and your address remains on the list throughout.

A unique address changes the problem. If only one organisation received that address, you know which relationship has become noisy. You can retire the route instead of teaching a filter about every message travelling through it.

A filter asks whether a message belongs. An alias lets you decide whether the address should exist at all.

Find the address feeding the spam

Start by checking which address received the unwanted message. If it is an address labelled for one shop, quote or newsletter, the context is immediately useful.

This does not prove that the original company deliberately sold anything. Addresses can escape through breaches, suppliers, mistakes and malicious activity. The point is not instant blame. The point is knowing which door the mail used.

What to do when an address becomes noisy

1. Check whether you still need it. An address connected to an active account may need a replacement before it is retired.
2. Use a trustworthy unsubscribe link when appropriate. Legitimate newsletters should provide one. Do not interact with suspicious messages merely to test them.
3. Change the account address. For an account you are keeping, create a fresh permanent address and update the service first.
4. Retire the compromised address. Once nothing important depends on it, close the route.
5. Record what happened. A clear label makes patterns easier to spot later.

Spam is annoying. Phishing is different.

Some unwanted mail is merely promotional. Phishing tries to make you reveal a password, payment detail or other sensitive information. An alias can reduce unnecessary exposure and help identify unexpected mail, but it cannot make a dangerous link safe.

Do not sign in through a link you do not trust. Open the service through a saved bookmark or type its known address yourself. Use unique passwords and two-factor authentication wherever possible.

What about tracking pixels?

Some emails contain remote images that can report when a message is opened. MXDuck displays plain text and does not load remote tracking pixels in its inbox. That removes one common source of open tracking, although links and information you choose to provide can still reveal activity.

Make the next leak easier to contain

The best time to separate addresses is before unwanted mail begins. Give unfamiliar shops, trials, downloads and newsletters their own addresses. Keep important accounts separate too.

You cannot prevent every organisation from being breached or behaving badly. You can make sure one exposed address does not become the address attached to your whole online life.