UPDATED: September 7, 2010 (with new MobileMe features)

According to Apple, MobileMe is described as, “…a service that pushes email, contacts, and calendar events over the air to all your devices. So your iPhone, iPad, Mac, and PC stay in perfect sync. No docking required.”

But, in fairness, MobileMe, Apple’s paid Internet service, does a lot more than just that.
To answer a recent question, I’m going to take a moment to describe how you can help control SPAM/Junk mail with MobileMe:

“E-mail alias’” became a part of Apple’s Internet service, way back when MobileMe was much simpler and called “dot mac” (.Mac). Why are they important? Let’s start with the basics:

What is an email alias?

Simply put, it is a dummy address that automatically forwards e-mail to another e-mail account.

How are they useful?

E-mail aliases are useful in a few ways, but I’m going to exemplify just two: protecting your identity, and helping to prevent SPAM/junk mail.

1) Protecting your identity:

Many websites, these days, require you to login or sign up before using them. Some companies even display required email addresses as your public screen name. You don’t need to create and monitor another email account in order to protect your personal email. Instead, set up an email alias that will block your primary address from the masses.

2) Preventing SPAM/junk mail:

As mentioned above, providing your email address is a common requirement for many online sites and shopping experiences. It’s commonly known that many online-shopping-websites sell the email addresses that they collect, to other “related” companies, for profit. The result is SPAM, or junk mail. Before you know it, your email inbox is getting bombarded with junk…mostly from people or companies you’ve never heard of. Email aliases can help you determine where those addresses are being used and prevent SPAM overall.

Setting up the email aliases:

I recommend having at least 2 email aliases; depending on your needs, you may have more. It’s important to note that MobileMe users are allowed to have up to 5 aliases, per account.

If it’s not obvious, you must be a MobileMe user for this tutorial. MobileMe is $99 per year, after a 60-day trial period (for new users). You can sign up in the “MobileMe” pane of your System Preferences, or online at http://www.me.com .

To begin, log into your MobileMe account at http://www.me.com .

once you have logged in, you will be taken to your MobileMe email by default. To access other options (to be covered in the future), you click once on the “MobileMe cloud” icon in the top left. Clicking on the cloud icon will bring up the application switcher, and allow you to move to your: contacts, calendar etc.

in any pane (mail by default), look towards the top right for the “action” button (it will be next to your account name). Click on it and select “Preferences”

This icon, which looks like a gear, or a cog wheel, is a common symbol used throughout the Mac OS and its applications. It is called “action” because it will help you take “action” on whatever element you have selected.

In the mail preferences sheet that appears, select the “aliases” pane.

Here you will see the option to add a new alias.
Similar to your desktop interface, you’ll “add” an alias by clicking on the “+” symbol.

A new screen will appear and guide you through the alias process. Select the first option and click next.

Now,  type the email address you’d like to have, remembering that you cannot have spaces, and everything will precede “@me.com.” The second field represents whom this email will come “from.” Most people put their name here, as it that is what will show up in a recipient’s mailbox. If you prefer anonymity, you can put something generic or just your first name. The colored dots, next to the form fields, represent tags. If someone were to send an email to this alias, and you had selected the purple button, the email would arrive in your inbox, highlighted. These tags help you to determine, at a glance, when an alias is being used. If you don’t need this visual assistance, select the last dot (or radio button) on the right. Click next when you are done here.

MobileMe will now check to verify that the alias is available (and not in use by another user). If the alias isn’t available, MobileMe will warn you and ask you to try again. If the name is valid, your alias will be created and you’ll see a confirmation page.

Now, click done at the bottom right of the sheet. You should now see your, newly created, alias listed on the left side of your preference window.

(side note): this is the same window you would use to “delete” aliases you have created too. Simply find the alias you no longer wish to use, and click the “-” next to the “+” button.

You are now free to give out this “address” as you would your primary account. If/when someone emails you, it will appear in your inbox (both on your Mac, online, and on any other device you have MobileMe set-up).

Here is an example being sent to my new alias (from another account I have):

And, here is what it looks like once received:

if I were to reply to this email (via MobileMe’s online window), it would also originate from the “alias,” keeping my primary address private.

Such isn’t the case, by default on your Mac. Here’s how to change that: After you have set up your alias, online, go to the Mail application on your Mac. Select “Preferences” from the Mail Menu:

Select the “account” pane, and highlight your MobileMe account:

in the field where your “Email Address” is listed, add a comma and type in any/all of your newly created aliases (keeping each separated by a comma):

Close the window, and “Save” when prompted.

Now, if you reply to an email that was sent to your alias (in your Mail app, not online), your response will be generated from the same address. Also, when composing new mail, you can select this “address” to send inquiries or other correspondence, helping to further keep your primary address private.

How to use the email aliases:

As I mentioned above, I usually keep 2 aliases active: one for public postings and another for online shopping. I recommend adding the year to the end of your “address” and changing the alias each year. This will help cut down on SPAM you receive as once that address is sold and obtained you will have deleted it and created another. A sneaky trick SPAMMERs don’t want users to know.

If you change your aliases, yearly, you will drastically cut down on the amount of junk you receive.

Examples would be:

ShopChristian2010@me.com

or

ChristianPosts2010@me.com

That’s it! Questions? Clarification? Don’t hesitate to comment or contact me!

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