Gmail rant!

I just took up every avaliable version of my real name on gmail just to annoy every other person in the world with nearly the same name as me. :D

Similar thing, but something that really annoyed me recently though. Got the beta for MOH and some total #### has stolen my gaming name. I have had it for years. :mad:
 
I get this with my Yahoo mail account ... some bunch of rednecks from the deep, deep south seem to think I am their cousin. It comes in waves but every so often I'll get a spate of mails from them regarding their latest hunting trip or news on the family ...

... I have no idea who these people are (and frankly no wish to) ... don't have the same issue with my Hotmail or GMail accounts (which have the same username).
 
Cybermyk said:
I did this with Hotmail. I had Rachel@Hotmail Megan@Hotmail etc. The accounts were unusable with sex pests, people who thought they knew them and spam after a week. Never bothered with them much after that.
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Cybermyk said:
[Not using an easily guessed email address] wasn't something you really thought about in 96'
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For what it is worth, I believe that Hotmail's entire email address list was hacked and distributed sometime around about 2000, after Microsoft had acquired it ;)
 
I get this a lot as well, again I have initial and surname. However it's not a huge amount of traffic, probably a few emails a month are for someone else. I also have my own domain which I direct email to my work account and gmail account and send 'from'.

The only interesting mails I've had are a personals craigslist advert I was asked to confirm and an argument between two divorced parents about their daughter having a boy stay over.
 
Gmail is rubbish, theres some major bugs in the system:
When gmail first launched I registered [email protected].
After the switch to googlemail.com then the recently availability of gmail.com again 2 people have managed to create new accounts with [email protected] (no dot in the name) and recently [email protected]....I can see all their email!! I'm getting email for all 3 addresses. Utter joke!
I'm pretty sure its not just mis-typed addresses - both people have created facebook accounts which require email confirmation so they have successfully logged into gmail with their own passwords.
Support from google is non existant so my advice is avoid gmail if you have a common name :P
 
m0rte said:
Gmail is rubbish, theres some major bugs in the system:
When gmail first launched I registered [email protected].
After the switch to googlemail.com then the recently availability of gmail.com again 2 people have managed to create new accounts with [email protected] (no dot in the name) and recently [email protected]....I can see all their email!! I'm getting email for all 3 addresses. Utter joke!
I'm pretty sure its not just mis-typed addresses - both people have created facebook accounts which require email confirmation so they have successfully logged into gmail with their own passwords.
Support from google is non existant so my advice is avoid gmail if you have a common name :P
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that's intentional, all those addresses are meant to go to you:

http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en-GB&ctx=mail&answer=10313#

Receiving someone else's mail


There are three common reasons why Gmail users think they're receiving someone else's mail. Please select the description that matches your situation below.

Your address is similar but has more or fewer dots (.) or different capitalization.
Sometimes you may receive a message sent to an address that looks like yours but has a different number or arrangement of periods. While we know it might be unnerving if you think someone else's mail is being routed to your account, don't worry: both of these addresses are yours.
Gmail doesn't recognize dots as characters within usernames, you can add or remove the dots from a Gmail address without changing the actual destination address; they'll all go to your inbox, and only yours. In short:

All these addresses belong to the same person. You can see this if you try to sign in with your username, but adding or removing a dot from it. You'll still go to your account.
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It looks like you have a similar issue to me and the OP.
 
Skyfall said:
Buy a domain :p
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Had the opposite effect with me. Got the domain of mysurname.me.uk which i use with google apps and keep getting emails sent to some one else with the same surname but different firstname. (Got a relatively rare surname aswell)

While my normal gmail account which is first initial second initial surname @ gmail and don't get anything like this.
 
JIM_BOB7813 said:
How can people get their email address wrong for important things like that?
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Exactly! I mean, it's ok giving the wrong address to a few friends, but setting up a business account with Hewlett Packard???

stockhausen said:
Why would anyone use a Hotmail or Gmail email address based on one or more initials and a name, you are asking for spam :confused:
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Because you want a persistent address that survives you changing ISPs/jobs/universities and which has a proper-sounding moniker rather than being something obscure like your online handle/forum name/whatever. I'm sure a potential employer would scratch their head a bit if I listed my emails as "[email protected]" or something stupid like that.

Skyfall said:
Buy a domain :p
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I thought about this, but there's a pretty high likelihood of me moving away from the UK within the next few years. How can I make sure I'd still be able to keep my domain wherever I happen to be?
 
manveruppd said:
I thought about this, but there's a pretty high likelihood of me moving away from the UK within the next few years. How can I make sure I'd still be able to keep my domain wherever I happen to be?
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As long as you have an internet connection surely it doesn't matter where you are when you renew a domain
 
manveruppd said:
I thought about this, but there's a pretty high likelihood of me moving away from the UK within the next few years. How can I make sure I'd still be able to keep my domain wherever I happen to be?
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:p don't worry. you buy a domain name and then that's it, it's yours for life as long as you keep renewing it for roughly £8 per year. i think .it has some strict rules about being based in Italy but that's it.
 
I don't get this on my gmail account as I have a fairly unusual surname that nobody can ever get right.

However, at work I'm always getting emails for someone else as we have very simular looking surnames if you glance at them quickly in the address book.
We have the same first name (Chris) but shes a woman and also a director of the company.
 
i have a friend who has a similar problem. he has the same name as somebody who's writing a book about sarah palin, and some tv show in America gave the wrong email address out and told them to send him hate mail!
1. why is a tv show telling people to do that?!
2. check the god damn email address!

however, in this instance i find it amusing
 
A[L]C;17286230 said:
How strange... just read this thread thinking ive never had one of these mistaken identity issues... then I get

Sent from my iPhone
Daddy can u call me at 9:30pm everyday
Please
Xoxoxo
Monica

It came from [email protected]. Im [email protected]
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You do realise that posting your email in full in a popular public forum is a sure-fire way to get spam? :p

*runs off to sign you up for a dozen gay dating sites*
 
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