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

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#2428642 28-Feb-2020 09:57

freitasm:

Surely the PayPal account has a phone number, a name and address or something else? This story is so stupid.

I've had someone signup to Paypal with one of my email addresses, I've been trying to get Paypal support to do something about it, but they aren't interested.

PP told me they don't have (I guess won't) access to the other account??

PP also seem to be finalising stuff without email confirmations.

Unfortunately, the account has 2FA with his phone number so I can't password reset it... but I have sent a LOT of password reset requests so he should be getting concerned about that by now...

freitasm

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#2512773 26-Jun-2020 12:14

Ok, so perhaps this guy's email address is now "sensible" but the world was different 20 years ago...

How Thousands of Misplaced Emails Took Over This Engineer's Inbox

To Varda, the incident wasn't a surprise. As the owner of the email account temporal@gmail.com, he gets dozens of messages a day from Spanish-speakers around the world, all sent by people who thought they could use his address as a dummy input: "Temporal" translates to "temporary." Varda says he frequently receives private documents, even medical bills and collection notices. Many of the most sensitive emails contain legal notices that the messages are confidential and should not be disclosed to other parties aside from the intended recipient. Varda doesn't speak Spanish, but he uses Google Translate when possible to understand what's going on and reply to senders saying they have the wrong address.

The bulk of misplaced emails that head Varda's way are confirmations for various account sign-ups. He ignores those as much as possible. He says it can be difficult not to instinctively click confirm, but he doesn't want to let other people set up accounts tied to his address. He's also run into incidents where a platform doesn't require email address validation, and his suddenly becomes attached to someone else's account. Numerous times, it has appeared that an IT staffer at a large organization has used "temporal" as a throwaway for a batch of accounts, perhaps to close out support tickets or categorize miscellaneous user information in a database. Varda says the account also receives a huge number of sign-ups at schools around the world, though he's not sure why this category crops up so often.

WolfmanNZ

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#2512783 26-Jun-2020 12:30

Just last week someone signed up to Amazon UK using a variant of my gmail that was still effectively me. They were able to download free apps and register their Fire HD device without confirming their address. I have since taken control of the account (didnt attach his credit card details, what a shame) but then still received an advice that whomever it was had downloaded more free apps, so I de-registered the Fire HD device from the account and that seems to have shut them up.

freitasm

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#2920695 31-May-2022 08:18

Here is a good one.

I keep receiving emails from Oi, a Brazilian telco, about someone else's account. I tried unsubscribing but the unsubscribe link needs you to login and to reset your password you need to know the account's ID (similar to our IRD number).

So that was it. Until this week when I got an email with an account statement. Name, address and the ID number listed, chasing unpaid fibre and mobile.

Found their privacy page (and privacy officer LinkedIn) and sent an email explaining that

1. Your system doesn't verify emails when accounts are registered
2. Your system is leaking personal information that could be used for identity theft

Got a reply asking me to provide my full name and ID number so they could proceed with the query.

I replied "I am not your customer, I don't live in Brazil and already gave you the information you need."

I give this company my name and ID number, next thing I know I could have an account with them - or worse, they could update this woman's account with my data and I am on the hook for it.

Also, why would I trust someone over email with my ID number? Why would they need to know me to investigate a claim of data leakage.

What about no?

xpd

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#2920703 31-May-2022 08:32

I had Blizzard demand my passport details before they'd unlock a Battlenet account I owned (and lost access to). Told them to get *******.

Had plenty of other proof to prove ownership but nope, only wanted passport.

Only "fun" emails I get these days is the typical "you've been hacked" or "someone with your name left $$$$"......

Gavin / xpd / FastRaccoon / Geek of Coastguard New Zealand

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BlakJak

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#2922773 4-Jun-2022 17:59

freitasm:
Here is a good one.

I keep receiving emails from Oi, a Brazilian telco, about someone else's account. I tried unsubscribing but the unsubscribe link needs you to login and to reset your password you need to know the account's ID (similar to our IRD number).

So that was it. Until this week when I got an email with an account statement. Name, address and the ID number listed, chasing unpaid fibre and mobile.

Found their privacy page (and privacy officer LinkedIn) and sent an email explaining that

1. Your system doesn't verify emails when accounts are registered
2. Your system is leaking personal information that could be used for identity theft

Got a reply asking me to provide my full name and ID number so they could proceed with the query.

I replied "I am not your customer, I don't live in Brazil and already gave you the information you need."

I give this company my name and ID number, next thing I know I could have an account with them - or worse, they could update this woman's account with my data and I am on the hook for it.

Also, why would I trust someone over email with my ID number? Why would they need to know me to investigate a claim of data leakage.

What about no?

Brazil is one of those countries from which a prolific amount of spam has originated over the last 20+ years. I am not surprised to hear that their diligence is poor.

Why even engage?

My gmail account gets a lot of misdirected spam and after attempting to say 'wrong email address!' a couple of times i've just given up and started reporting-as-spam. The main way the organisations will be made to care, is if they regularly find their legit emails get spamfiltered. The way to encourage this is to give them a 'negative score' through your feedback.

And this tends to consume a lot less of your time, too. :-)

No signature to see here, move along...

freitasm

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#2932377 21-Jun-2022 08:38

Someone in Florida registered to support a Republican and used my gmail account. His newsletters all go to the spam folder but when I have some free time I take a few minutes every few weeks to answer surveys in the most anti-Republican way possible...

Also, the [UNSUBSCRIBE] link in their newsletter doesn't unsubscribe you. Typical.

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Speedy885

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#2936126 29-Jun-2022 20:41

Best Thread in the OT section!

Journeyman

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#2936682 30-Jun-2022 20:45

freitasm:

Ok, so perhaps this guy's email address is now "sensible" but the world was different 20 years ago...

How Thousands of Misplaced Emails Took Over This Engineer's Inbox

To Varda, the incident wasn't a surprise. As the owner of the email account temporal@gmail.com, he gets dozens of messages a day from Spanish-speakers around the world, all sent by people who thought they could use his address as a dummy input: "Temporal" translates to "temporary." Varda says he frequently receives private documents, even medical bills and collection notices. Many of the most sensitive emails contain legal notices that the messages are confidential and should not be disclosed to other parties aside from the intended recipient. Varda doesn't speak Spanish, but he uses Google Translate when possible to understand what's going on and reply to senders saying they have the wrong address.

The bulk of misplaced emails that head Varda's way are confirmations for various account sign-ups. He ignores those as much as possible. He says it can be difficult not to instinctively click confirm, but he doesn't want to let other people set up accounts tied to his address. He's also run into incidents where a platform doesn't require email address validation, and his suddenly becomes attached to someone else's account. Numerous times, it has appeared that an IT staffer at a large organization has used "temporal" as a throwaway for a batch of accounts, perhaps to close out support tickets or categorize miscellaneous user information in a database. Varda says the account also receives a huge number of sign-ups at schools around the world, though he's not sure why this category crops up so often.

Whenever I need a throwaway email address I just use bob@aol.com.

Sorry Bob!

openmedia

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#2936762 30-Jun-2022 23:20

freitasm:

Someone in Florida registered to support a Republican and used my gmail account. His newsletters all go to the spam folder but when I have some free time I take a few minutes every few weeks to answer surveys in the most anti-Republican way possible...

Also, the [UNSUBSCRIBE] link in their newsletter doesn't unsubscribe you. Typical.

I've had similar issues with one of Trump's Sons. Always make it as SPAM to help improve Google's filters.

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.

openmedia

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#2936763 30-Jun-2022 23:21

The best one recently is a number of the UK online betting organisations don't validate account email addressed.

I had to step in before I got hit with a potential credit score issue and then the owner of the account complained as their account had been frozen.

Idiot still thinks my address is theirs.

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.

Behodar

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#2936781 1-Jul-2022 08:12

openmedia: I had to step in before I got hit with a potential credit score issue

Huh? How can your credit score be affected when all they have is your email address? Is the credit system really that broken?

frankv

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#2936785 1-Jul-2022 08:23

I periodically get an email from the American Quarter Horse Association. It seems that someone typed my email address in instead of their member's address. No amount of emails to the AQHA can get it fixed.

openmedia

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#2936792 1-Jul-2022 08:30

Behodar:

openmedia: I had to step in before I got hit with a potential credit score issue

Huh? How can your credit score be affected when all they have is your email address? Is the credit system really that broken?

Their account got flagged by the betting company within days for bad debt. It I hadn't have stepped in my email, as the primary contact address, would have bee passed onto a debt recovery company and flagged with credit score organisations.

So yes.. It can be that bad over in the UK and Europe.

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.

freitasm

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#2936794 1-Jul-2022 08:32

openmedia:

Their account got flagged by the betting company within days for bad debt. It I hadn't have stepped in my email, as the primary contact address, would have bee passed onto a debt recovery company and flagged with credit score organisations.

So yes.. It can be that bad over in the UK and Europe.

How stupid it can be - the email is not verified when the account is open so it shouldn't be used as an id.

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