Suppressing a new tab/window from loading on email click

Suppressing a new tab/window from loading on email click

I'm writing an Android app and am working on the user registration
process. After I validate their inputs (name, email address, password,
etc.) I send them an email that includes an http link for them to confirm
that they are a human (and not a hacker, who we all know are not humans).
The http link looks something like this:
http://www.mywebsite.com/confirm_me.php?passkey='123456789'
OK, all of this works great. However, in the confirm_me.php file, I am
creating a JSON object that I need to pass back to my app for error
checking, etc. My problem is that this JSON object also winds up appearing
as the content of a new tab/window that is opened by the simple act of the
user tapping on the link. Since this information is kind of cryptic and
isn't really something that I'd like a user to confront, I'd like to
suppress the opening of this window.
Does anyone know how I can do this? Do I let it open and then have the php
file close it? What is the best approach?
Thank you!