I read stupid people's emails - the joy of a sensible gmail address

Forums › Off topic › I read stupid people's emails - the joy of a sensible gmail address

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Ultimate Geek

#1671051 15-Nov-2016 00:53

PhantomNVD: ...but never been lucky enough to get a free NFlix account yet 😈

I'd feel bad locking them out of their account though, I suppose if I reset their password they should have a phone number in their account details?

SaltyNZ

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#1671064 15-Nov-2016 07:28

I've only ever had one, regarding a hotel reservation for someone's parents. I emailed the hotel back to let them know. My wife, however, gets it all the time for at least 2 different people. One of them is a doctor, judging by the emails she gets.

OTOH at one point I did decide to try out Snapchat (I know, right? I'm some sort of Luddite, obviously) and found my email address had already been used by someone to register an account. So I clicked the 'I forgot my password' option. The results were mundane, and I uninstalled Snapchat not long after.

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These comments are my own and do not represent the opinions of 2degrees.

linw

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Uber Geek

#1671116 15-Nov-2016 09:23

I have a gmail address with '.nz' on the end. At the time, I thought that was clever not knowing, then, that dots were ignored. However, I have only had a couple of wrong emails so guess I am lucky.

But wonder why google doesn't use the dot to solve this problem?

SaltyNZ

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#1671117 15-Nov-2016 09:24

I assume it was originally thought to be a 'feature' rather than a 'bug'.

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SaltyNZ

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#1671119 15-Nov-2016 09:26

rhy7s:

PhantomNVD: ...but never been lucky enough to get a free NFlix account yet 😈

I'd feel bad locking them out of their account though, I suppose if I reset their password they should have a phone number in their account details?

I may have locked a couple of people out of their modems just before turning off their broadband on account of the malware their computers were spewing all over the place. But I feel like that is a perfectly justifiable act if it makes them wonder what's going on and get their computers disinfected.

iPad Pro 11" + iPhone 15 Pro Max + 2degrees 4tw!

These comments are my own and do not represent the opinions of 2degrees.

gished

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Ultimate Geek

#1671382 15-Nov-2016 14:49

I thought I had a fairly unique name and as such have it as my domain and also my gmail account. I started getting subscription messages one day and figured someone was being lazy. Some time later I start getting twitter notifications and after requesting a password reset, I took over their account. It didn't have much content but was enough for me to track down their FB profile etc. They stopped using my email address after that.

I've also had some poor chaps extra-marital affair details come into inbox because someone was sloppy on their to: field, and of course all subsequent messages were sent to me instead of 'mr playa'. I decided not to respond to those ones as it would have been too tempting to troll them all. Most recently however someone used my address for some credit/rewards scheme. I figured it was just another lazy person until several days later I got an email stating they'd just deposited $200 into their account. So I jumped on, did a password reset, had a look and sure enough there's credit on the account. I left it as is so they can go through the hoops of trying to figure that one out with the website as their appeared to be other means to verify your account etc. Using someone elses email address as the username is just asking for trouble.

..then theirs the travel-agent who uses my domain address for booking confirmations...

So yeah, even not so sensible email addresses get mixed up. The world is full of careless email users.

littleheaven

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#1671504 15-Nov-2016 17:45

Coincidentally, I've just started getting Ebay marketing emails to my non-dot Gmail address for a third person. I unsubscribed to them, but if I start getting purchase confirmations, Cheyenne might find herself locked out of her account. Get your own address, people!

Geek girl. Freelance copywriter and editor at Unmistakable.co.nz.

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pctek

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Ultimate Geek
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#1671512 15-Nov-2016 18:34

openmedia:

So I keep getting other peoples email and I'm trying to understand the reason

2 x IPhone repairs - different people
Flights with KLM within Europe

Opticians / Lasik appointments
Fairly confidential medical details

Insurance quotes and renewals
Participation in a family intervention

Oooohhh..... so tempting.

freitasm

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#1671518 15-Nov-2016 18:42

openmedia:

Participation in a family intervention

If it's not an invite to family members to join an exorcism it doesn't count.

jamesrt

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#1671560 15-Nov-2016 19:58

freitasm: If it's not an invite to family members to join an exorcism it doesn't count.

Personal experience?

SaltyNZ

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#1671574 15-Nov-2016 20:14

Maybe aspiration?

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openmedia

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#1671604 15-Nov-2016 22:32

freitasm:

openmedia:

Participation in a family intervention

If it's not an invite to family members to join an exorcism it doesn't count.

I couldn't possibly comment (further)

Generally known online as OpenMedia, now working for Red Hat APAC as a Technology Evangelist and Portfolio Architect. Still playing with MythTV and digital media on the side.

surfisup1000

5288 posts

Uber Geek

#1671722 16-Nov-2016 09:25

openmedia:

So I keep getting other peoples email and I'm trying to understand the reason

Some woman named Jennifer in the USA keeps using my email address. I've been invited to weddings, checked out the wedding dresses they are thinking about, family parties, seen the house and building report on that house that she ended up buying , car she bought, and so on.

And, some dude in the USA called James is an idiot too. I get quiet a lot of email intended for him. Just this very morning I received a buyer feedback query on some stupid mattress he just bought.

I'm guessing the mail is mostly legit, as not asking for money or passwords.

I have a very good gmail address incidentally. One of those types one wishes they could have snapped up back in the early days. But, the negative is that it gets used by strangers fairly often.

toyonut

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#1671871 16-Nov-2016 11:33

Reminds me of this I read yesterday:

https://daniel.haxx.se/blog/2016/11/14/i-have-toyota-corola/

He gets emails from various people because his email is on the open source curl license in the car infotainment system.

Try Vultr using this link and get us both some credit:

http://www.vultr.com/?ref=7033587-3B

freitasm

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#1889745 26-Oct-2017 10:21

Today I received a quote for a car insurance in the UK.

I reset the password (my gmail address was used), deleted the quote, changed the details to my own (name, DOB, civil status, security question) and logged out.

Good luck to the stupid trying to get to login to that account again.

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