How To Get a Fake Email Address — And Why You Should

Spam, scams, trackers, data breaches — there are more email-based threats to privacy than ever these days. However, nearly every service requires your email address. What’s the solution? Email masking — or the practice of using an alternative, “fake” email address to keep your real email private.

In this article, we’ll explore what email masking is and how to leverage top privacy tools to get a secure fake email address.

What is email masking?

Email masking is essentially using an alternate, typically anonymous, email address to hide your real email address and preserve your privacy. Usually, the “fake” email address will forward your mail to your real address. This helps avoid the potential for major security and privacy risks that can arise from having your email address exposed or made public, such as in a data breach.

Data security risks of having an exposed email address

There are several risks associated with having your email address exposed. Some of the most common risks include:

• Phishing attacks aim to steal more personal information, such as banking or credit card numbers.
• Loss of passwords, leading to hacking of other online accounts.
• Increased amounts of spam.
• Becoming a target of identity thieves and other bad actors.

There are several ways an email address can become exposed, and the two most common are data brokers and data breaches.

Data brokers aggregate public records and other online data to create a profile of your personal information, which typically includes your name, home address, email addresses, phone numbers, family members, and a lot more. Then, data brokers and people search sites make your personal information available to anyone on the internet.

During a data breach, hackers break into a company’s systems and steal email addresses, as well as other sensitive personal information. They may use these emails themselves for criminal purposes, leak them onto the dark web for others to use, or sell them to other criminals for a profit.

How to get a fake email with a data removal service

Some data removal services, such as DeleteMe, offer email masking as part of their suite of tools. 

This may seem like an odd feature, but it makes sense — these tools are all about keeping your data off the internet to protect your identity, and masking your email is one way to do that.

Here’s how to get a fake email with DeleteMe

1. Log in to the DeleteMe dashboard.
2. Click on the Privacy Tools tab.
3. Click the See More button in the Email Masking widget.
4. Click the New Masked Email button.
5. Give your new masked email address a label so you can easily identify it.

You can now use that masked email anywhere you’re asked to provide an email address. The easiest way is likely to copy and paste it into login forms, as the addresses are usually quite complex.

How to get a fake email with a VPN service

Some virtual private network (VPN) services offer features that enable users to get fake email addresses. Surfshark has one of the more robust solutions for this in its Alternative ID service, which includes Alternative Email.

Alternative ID allows you to create fake email addresses, phone numbers, and even an alternative online persona to maintain your anonymity and privacy online. This pairs well with a VPN’s other privacy benefits, such as hiding your IP address and keeping your traffic encrypted.

Here’s how to set up Surfshark Alternative Email

1. Head to the Alternate ID portion of the Surfshark control panel.
2. Go to the Alternative ID tab and click Create.
3. Fill in the requested information for your Alt Persona.
4. Review the suggested alternative email address. When you’re satisfied, click Continue.
5. Next, you’ll be asked to link your real email address. Enter the address you want connected to Alternative Email and click Create Alt Email.
6. You’ll receive a code in the linked email inbox. Confirm the code and you’ll be all set.

Note that you’ll need an active Surfshark subscription to use Alternative ID features. You can bundle Alternative ID with Surfshark One plans, which offer the Surfshark VPN, Alternative ID, Antivirus, Alert, and Search features. The top-tier plan also adds data removal with Incogni.

How to get a fake email address with a password manager

Many password managers also offer email masking or similar features. In this example, we’ll focus on NordPass, the password manager from the makers of NordVPN.

NordPass also offers additional features beyond simple password management, including a data breach scanner and a secure password generator.

Here’s how to set up email masking in NordPass

1. Open the NordPass app and select Email Masking in the Tools tab.
2. Click the Create Email Mask button.
3. Agree to the privacy policy and create your first masked email. You can create up to 200 masked emails on the NordPass Premium and Family plans.

Are free temp email generators safe to use?

Free temporary email generators offer numerous benefits. First, they’re free — that’s obviously a big bonus. They offer many of the same benefits as paid security software, including email forwarding, customizable addresses, and the like.

However, they lack the security of most paid solutions, particularly encryption. They may also lack the robust privacy policies of paid services. If your free email generator leaks your data, whether intentionally to third parties or through a data breach, you may end up with your email exposed, which defeats the purpose.

FAQs

Bottom line

Email masking, or using a fake email address, is an excellent way to maintain privacy when signing up for services that require an email address. It can help keep your real email address safe from data breaches and other scenarios where it might be at risk.

The best approach is to utilize security services that offer email masking features, such as VPNs, password managers, and even data removal services. These tools offer encryption and other high-end security features that you won’t find with free temporary email generators.