Someone using my Gmail address

L1011

I have [relatively common Irish first name][extremely common Irish surname]@gmail.com which I managed to nab very early on

I get ridiculous amounts of stuff for other people that forgot the numbers they had at the end or whatever. Cinema tickets, gig tickets (Fleetwood Mac in Boston, oddly), pre-screening forms for jobs, reminders that an Australian visa was going to expire... One woman cannot understand that I'm not actually her son and keeps sending me random ****e.

gooner99

Yeah. My email address dates all the way back to when you needed an invite (I think). So at the time I thought it was great to get firstnamelastname&gmail.

Ice Storm

I get this all the time. I have a common name and got an early Gmail address which is lastnamefirstname. I've received invoices, medical records, phone bills etc. Mostly from America but occasionally Australia and Germany! I mostly delete unless it looks important and I'll reply to sender.

I do get great entertainment out of being included in an American family's email group and getting invited to various gatherings. I responded to them once to let them know, as I felt bad my namesake might be excluded but the emails continued!

Anyway, it's not a flaw in Gmail, it's just idiots inputting the wrong address. I'd say it's intentional at times, to avoid spam.. it just ends up in my inbox instead of theirs!

lawred2

gooner99 wrote: »

Yeah. My email address dates all the way back to when you needed an invite (I think). So at the time I thought it was great to get firstnamelastname&gmail.

same

Uncle Pierre

28064212 wrote: »

people putting in [noparse]joebloggs@gmail.com[/noparse], when the person they're looking for is [noparse]joe.bloggs@outlook.com[/noparse]

I hear ya. I spoke to somebody not that long ago (probably only about a year) who genuinely believed that @gmail.com could be used in any email address instead of the real domain name, because "Google owns the internet and does all the email anyway".

Still, at least they knew how to send an email. Best (or worst) I've ever had was a time in work, maybe 10 or 12 years ago, when we used to get weekly reports sent in by part-timers who worked from home long before it was a thing like now. Traditional way of them doing it had been by fax, but all had moved over to email by then, except one, who still sent up to 8 or 10 pages of figures and notes by fax each week.

I eventually phoned him and asked if he could send by email instead. He said he'd try, and I gave him the address unclepierre@work.com

The following Monday morning, the fax machine buzzed into life as normal, eight pages spewed out, and scrawled in handwriting on the cover sheet were the words "For the attention of unclepierre@work.com"

True story. Honestly.

i57dwun4yb1pt8

i have an early full name email address as well
i get loads of wrong ones all over the world

i do have fun with repeat offenders

1/ a long email chain about a stag and ski weekend in Aspen , loads of people on it
i asked them to take me off, no one listened -
i then said its a long way for me to go but i will come if you supply the coke and hookers
they took me off then
( after one responded saying there were kids and teenagers on the mail trail - f*ck em, i laughed hard )


2/ Regular ones from a priests secretary in uk, and priests colleagues
the weird thing is the priest has my name and is based in the small town i was also born in

anyway - i got emails from a design company about repainting his rectory ( giggidy)
i told them im not him, and they still sent colour schemes
i mailed them back saying i was skydiving with my boyfriend in Florida,
and a nice candy pink would suit the walls.
i got an email from his secretary the next day to say she took me off and was still laughing


3/ Bank lone approval from BOI to a student for 6 grand - I was so tempted
but i didnt in the end - email them saying great thats my party year sorted.
i got a polite apology

ted1

gooner99 wrote: »

Hi. For the last few months someone in the US has been using my Gmail address which is simply my first and last names with no full stops or numbers. At first I thought maybe it was that the other person had a full stop in their address and I have read that sometimes Gmail have an issue with delivery with these. The other option is that the other person is using it knowingly as they have a different first name. I find this odd as they order stuff with my Gmail address as well as signing up to newsletters, mailing lists, etc. I tried to contact Google, but haven't found a way to do so. Anyone got experience of this. What are my best options?

Full stops are ignored by gmail. You can stick them in anywhere in your address and it’ll still go to you

My gmail is brownfinger@gmail.com*
I keep getting mails for a small company whos email addreess is brownfinger@gmail.com.AU based in Sydney.

Been happening for years and they said its not thier problem,nothing they can do etc

So I started rudely replying to the customers and sending them pictures of cats!
I got a mail from an Embassy in sydney asking them to attend something and I told them to go **** themselves

It was going on for 4/5 years.
Havent gotten one since the Embassy incident.

*its not

KAGY

Same thing happened when I set up a gmail account for my first born. Again. Firstname.Surname@gmail.com.


So many namesakes have used it to sign up for different stuff, forgetting they had a number at the end (i assume). It was slightly interesting for a while, again party's and trips being organised, delivery receipts for a teacher in england, an uber account for someone in the states: I could see all their journeys etc.



But when someone used it to sign up for various dating apps I had to get my daughter to stop using it, I unsubscribed, but the amount of spam that was coming in after was unbelievable


Lesson learned, bought a domain name and hosting package from blacknight, so now everyone in the family has firstname@domain.com