How do you use alias details?

For example, I often use alias details when shopping for price glitches, or if I'm unsure about a brand. I have a special email address that is connected to my usual inbox that I use, and have rules set up so that all emails from that brand go there instead of my main inbox.

Also, whenever a brand asks for my telephone number I purposefully give the wrong one. This is to avoid marketing calls.

I've found that using an alias email is particularly useful, as I now have 200 - 500 emails a day going in there from all the freebies, competitions and newsletters that I've subscribed to. Having it in a separate folder means I never have to look at them unless I want to, and with gmail it becomes almost like a private search engine for deals... If I need a voucher code for M&S, for example, I will just search that folder and often there is a promotional email with that voucher code.

Good advice. Especially about the phone number. That's one piece of information I am always reluctant to provide. I have stuck to one inbox thus far and tend to filter and sort it daily.

I do have a webpage that collates all of my sources for freebies and comps. I track these daily and keep a spreadsheet to track progress. You know I love a pivot table!

I am always reluctant to apply for the ones that ask for a phone number, but giving a fake one is definitely a good idea. I have two different emails. One which I use for personal emails and one which I use for freebies, competitions and subscriptions, it just makes things so much easier.

Good ideas, thanks. I use the Chrome extension Blur, that lets you generate a fresh throwaway email address for any form. It will forward these to your account and has a dashboard where you can simply switch each email off if you need to. (It also has a similar service for phones and credit cards but I've never used it.)

i've set up the prototype page but still do not see an email for me to use as an alias . help?

- Different email

- Different name

- Made up phone number

These are the two things one should do when signing up for competitions.

One tip I heard is to always add in "your middle name" or a second first name if no middle name option is given, but instead of putting in your real middle name, use the name of the site. This way, if they sell your details on, you know who sold them as the company name will be in the name they address you by.

Sometimes I use my full name, other times I'll use a nickname, it just depends on what I'm signing up for. I've used my (real lol) middle name as my surname before too.

I have several email addresses I use though. I use one for sites like this that I contribute to, and then others for things like freebies or competitions. That way I can keep everything separate.

I also use my old phone number whenever they ask for a phone number. This keeps my actual phone numbers (business and personal) free of unwanted calls. At least for the most part, anyway.

For competitions it is probably not wise to use a made up phone number as if you win they may try to contact you by phone, of course they might try and email you when they can't get hold of you but that is a risk . What I did was buy a cheap phone from CEX for a tenner and I use that number when entering comps,if it rings and it is spam you can just cut the call off. I also wouldn't advise using a different name either as I have won twice where they required ID both were alcohol comps so not sure if they are required by law to do this before sending the Alcohol, don't think it would be very good if you won a holiday either as they will obviously need all details to fulfill the prize. I also have a separate email for comping, it is rammed full of spam every day but i just keep it open and never spend more than 5 minutes at a time emptying it apart from when I am out or asleep.

Watch out for OfferX.co.uk - claimed that I'd been accepted to test a couple of products after I signed up to them, but you can't "accept" the product until you agree to several companies having your phone number. Same with their competitions.

When doing a competition, I use a gmail account for this, the spam e-mails can be horrendous, for putting a phone number, I've kept and old phone, which I top up with a fiver every 6 months or so, just in case I get any winning phone calls, I've had a few, so if I get sales or marketing calls, they go to this phone, if it's a comp win, they always leave a message asking you to call back. I have had to provide ID, when I won a Deal or No Deal competition, I had to provide evidence of my driving licence, so play by ear about lying for date of birth, I've never had any problems, look for a secure web padlock on comp pages, this usually tells you its'a genuine comp, and follow your instinct, if it fees dodgy, it probably will be!

going to take a while for me to work this magic.

Iv got a comp/freebie e mail address seperate to private.

soon as i replace laptop will be able to do the folders ect thank you didn't see this earlier. x

I dont use a fake or old telephone number a such but I very rarely give my mobile number, preferring to stick to my home phone. Our main phone is on an answer machine anyway which we never answer - unless someone leaves a message we can then decide to call them back or not. I also never answer the mobile unless I know who is calling - they can always leave a message too. As for emails - I have an outloook email address I just use for comps and web site logs ins - I dont mind spam etc in that one - its easy to delete the rubbish anyway.

Thanks for details

I love it

I haven't had too many harassing phone calls - but hellofresh are a pain so I avoid them now. I had to block their number and now they send junk mail instead.

I had a call from a woman 2 or 3 years ago selling adjustable beds that I had entered a competition for and I felt sorry for her because she had obviously been given what she thought was a list of potential customers. She wasn't pushy and she had no idea that they were just competition entrants who weren't going to pay nearly £2,000 for a bed.

I have never been notified of a competition win by telephone so I don't think it matters if it isn't your own number. I don't do those that some radio sites have when they only ask for a phone number.

I use a different email for freebies n competitions and my old phone number and shorten my name then I know who or what are contacting me

I recommend the excellent https://www.spamgourmet.com - it lets you create unlimited temporary email addresses. I have been using it for years.

The instructions are very simple - steps 1 and 2 create your account and set it up. Step 3 lets you create random email addrtesses that are 'alive' fro x number of emails - allowing you to verify then email address and receive any prize email that arrives but will then self-destruct.

Protect yourself from spam in three easy steps:

1. If you haven't done it yet, create a spamgourmet account. Enter your user name and the email address you want to be protected. You will be asked to identify the word in a picture and pick a password.

2. Spamgourmet will forward to this address all the emails sent to your spamgourmet addresses -- that way you don't have to tell anyone else what it is -- this is why it's called the protected address. Of course, this protected address must exist. That's why you have to confirm it. You'll receive an email asking you to confirm.

3. After you have confirmed your protected address, you can give out self-destructing email addresses whenever you want. The spamgourmet addresses are like:

someword.x.user@spamgourmet.com

where someword is a word you have never used before, x (optional) is the number of email messages you want to receive at this address (up to 20, and the number 3 will be used if you leave it out), and user is your username.

For example, if your user name is "spamcowboy", and BigCorp wants you to give them your email address (on the web, on the phone, at a store - it doesn't matter), instead of giving them your protected address, give them this one:

frombigcorp.3.spamcowboy@spamgourmet.com (and frombigcorp.spamcowboy@spamgourmet.com will work the same way)

This spamgourmet email address will be created here the first time BigCorp uses it (you don't have to do anything to create it), and you'll receive at most 3 messages, forwarded to your protected address. The rest will be indelicately consumed.

If you own a website and your hosting comes with an email mailbox, you can usually set up a “catch-all” email account.

This is an email address that is set to receive all messages that are addressed to an incorrect email address for a domain.

For example, you could have a main account set up as yourname@yourwebsite.com, and set this up as a catch-all email account.

Then, any email messages sent to any invalid email address for that domain e.g. dominos@yourwebsite.com or asda@yourwebsite.com are sent to the catch-all account (yourname@yourwebsite.com).

Just get a freebie mobile sim (Lebara/Virgin/Asda) and put no money on it - they can still ring you although you cant ring out.

Best is if you have a mobile phone that can take two simcards - I can highly recommend the new Doogee X30 £69.99.

Good camera for photographing those pesky receipts and takes all the apps - Topcashback, Shopmium etc

The most useful thing is that it takes two simcards so you can have your real one active for making calls, sending texts etc and the secondary dummy sim for just receiving calls and if you set it on answering machine you never have to bother with spam calls if you choose not to!

I think it's being over-dramatised here with the phone number. I've been entering comps on mse for 15 years(just got back into it after taking a break for a couple of years) and was a board guide on the comps forum and I can honestly say I can count the number of spam calls on one hand in that time. If you did just block the number. Now you had an accident calls,that's another matter