Gmail / email concerns

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huxtable

91 posts

Master Geek

#268352 14-Mar-2020 15:28

I've had a gmail account as my main email account for quite a few years. Email address format is "firstname.lastname@gmail.com" - all well and good. Except for the last couple of years, I've been getting a lot of emails that were intended for someone else with the same name as me - someone who seemingly has "firstnamelastname@gmail.com" - i.e. the only difference to my email address is mine has a punctuation mark.

The "To" field includes this slightly different email address. It's been a minor annoyance - it's mainly spammy marketing emails, however occasionally I get some more personal emails that have clearly been sent to that address. It also includes orders of products to their USA address. Of course, my main concern is - are they also getting emails intended for me?!?

My research shows that it shouldn't be possible for these two different email accounts to even exist, with only this punctuation mark as difference ( https://support.google.com/mail/forum/AAAAK7un8RUStVTCa-NtsE/?hl=sr ). But how is this happening? Is my doppelganger / namesake messing up her own email address when she's ordering products online etc?

SirHumphreyAppleby

1290 posts

Uber Geek

#2438025 14-Mar-2020 15:43

But how is this happening? Is my doppelganger / namesake messing up her own email address when she's ordering products online etc?

Given you are receiving personal e-mails, yes, they're using the wrong address.

GMail doesn't care about the dots, you can put them anywhere you like and the mail will still arrive in your inbox.

darthkram

39 posts

Geek

#2438026 14-Mar-2020 15:44

The other person is almost certainly messing up their email address or at least the person sending the email is.

I have the exact same scenario, mine is first.last@gmail.com and often get emails intended for other, some very personal or important business related things too.

I eventually found out the other persons email is firstrlast@gmail.com i.e. there is only one small unoticable letter between the names which I guess people misread quite frequently, hence me ending up with their emails.

It's been going on so long that I tend to just forward them on to him now as replying to the sender makes very little difference.

Oblivian

3914 posts

Uber Geek

#2438037 14-Mar-2020 16:03

.'s don't exist in Gmail land

anything with . in it, is the same as without. Downside to this is normal apps can't tell the difference and spammers simply create duplicate accounts shifting the . between letters. So for one with a 5 digit name like harry you can be h.arry, ha.rry, h.a.rr.. and so on. And the system can't tell.

At the same time, you can login to gmail controlled services without the . as it's all the same. As soon as you take an email, all variants with . are yours too. It's then down to senders to make sure they don't screw it

https://support.google.com/mail/answer/7436150?hl=en

lNomNoml

1527 posts

Uber Geek

#2438038 14-Mar-2020 16:04

Get a different email address.

richms

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#2438101 14-Mar-2020 16:52

I have this quite a bit. I will usually do a password reset on the accounts from services that are stupid enough to let people add the address without confirming it.

Marketing doesnt like email address confirmation as it is friction to getting the people in the system, and this is the fallout from that. Hopefully the person who cant type their own address properly wastes customer service time with the place so that it costs them. Or they give up and dont use them again.

Richard rich.ms

freitasm

BDFL - Memuneh
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#2438197 14-Mar-2020 19:08

Companies use email addresses without verifying them. It happens. Developers are lazy.

As above, Gmail addresses ignore "." so your address is actually firstlast@gmail.com - no one else has access to it except you.

Click the unsubscribe button. If it's a service ignore the emails - or do what I do: click "Forgot password" and change it. The person will never have access to the service again. It's not your problem they don't use their own email address.

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freitasm

BDFL - Memuneh
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#2438198 14-Mar-2020 19:09

Here's the existing discussion on this: https://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=48&topicid=205468

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