Here’s how I stop spam emails from ever reaching my inbox

Despite the best efforts of the spam blockers in my email inboxes, I still get dozens of spam emails every day that I then have to wade through to get to my real emails. The irony is, the more I use my email addresses in online forms, the more spam I get.

But I’ve discovered a way to stop the spam ever reaching my inboxes. I now use DuckDuckGo’s Email Protection feature to disguise my real email addresses so that spam emails are sent to the DuckDuckGo designated address instead of my own, but real emails make it through to my real address.

In case you haven’t heard of it, DuckDuckGo is a search engine and browser that boasts a suite of privacy and security features.

Specifically, it blocks third-party trackers and also blocks targeted ads. It also allows users to delete their data with just one click.

All you have to do to disguise your email address is set up a free “@duck.com” email address in DuckDuckGo and use it as your email address, then designate a forwarding address (your real email). Here’s how to do that.

What to do:

• Download and install the DuckDuckGo browser and make it your default browser. Follow the prompts to set it up.
• Download and install the DuckDuckGo’s Search and Tracker Protection extension.
• Open your DuckDuckGo browser. On the home screen click the three bars to the right of the search bar and navigate to Email Protection. Click “Get Started” then “Next” and agree to the terms and conditions.
• Now follow the prompts to choose a personalized Duck address and then in the field below enter the email address that you’d like emails to your Duck address forwarded to.
• Now that you have a Duck email address, use this instead of the “real address” to prevent spam reaching your inbox. You can also reply to emails directly from your Duck address if you wish.

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