If you are seeing a new subscriber with a suspicious email address, the email may be a result of Gmail's masking feature which allows the user to create an alias of their email address in case they don't want to provide their actual address.
Apple and several other providers have had similar capabilities for quite a while.
Using a masked email address can help reduce the risk of data breaches and cyberattacks.
Here is a brief overview.
Gmail users can mask their email address by creating an alias address or adding a plus sign (+) to their email address.
Here's how it works from a gmail account:
- Go to Settings
- All Settings
- Accounts and Import
- Under Send mail as: category
- Enter the name and new address to send from
- For example, if your email address is name@gmail.com, you can create aliases like name+surfshark@gmail.com, name+wikimedia@gmail.com, and name+annoyingaunt@gmail.com.
- click Next Step
(For work or school accounts, enter the SMTP server, username, and password.)
NOTE: Since the subscriber list is yours, you do not have to keep masked emails on your list.
See FAQ:
How to Delete Subscribers
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