If your email address is [email protected] ...

[chocbelli]

... do you often get emails for other people with the same name as you?

I've had a firstname.surname gmail address for about 30 years, with no bother, but in the last 3-4 years I've been getting random but genuine emails for people with the same name - e.g. mailing list subscriptions, an EPC certificate, a building insurance email, emails from solicitors or accountants which include personal info. They are addressed to my firstname and surname, but include postal addresses in other parts of the UK or different countries. I assume these people must have similar emails e.g. firstname.surname1 or firstname.surnameWithDifferentSpelling but somehow mistyped them when filling out an online form.

Does this happen to you? My name is not a common one at all, but is clearly common enough for me to have doppelgangers around the world with poor recollection of their own email addresses.

I'm very curious as to why this just started happening in the last 3-4 years, when I've had this address for ever and ever! 🤷‍♀️

Yep, loads. I got an invite to a funeral once, which was an awkward one to reply to.

I also got signed up to a US dating site for the elderly, a tractor magazine, and Trump's official supporters newsletter, which I think were all for the same person.

Also, someone, somewhere isn't receiving their Scottish Power bills.

Fascinated by this. Never once knowingly received email meant for another recipient!

Duplicate addresses aren't possible. If someone makes a small typo, such as [email protected] (your address) when they meant to contact [email protected], I guess it can happen. But the exact same address is targeted spam. Block and ignore. Create a new address and have things forwarded.

Actually no. My first name and surname are a rare combination

I was an extremely early adopter of Gmail, so I snagged my common name in full. I get so, so many emails for other people. These days, I only reply if it looks important (job offer/medical appointments etc.) Solicitors are the worst for sending confidential things to the wrong email addy IMO.

Yes! I get delivery notifications for a company in Ireland from their courier. I emailed the courier. I emailed the company. After a bit of digging, I found the email of the lady they SHOULD have been going to, and emailed her to tell her she needed to change the email. When that didn't work, I complained to ICO. It's been a year and I'm STILL receiving the emails. I've been tempted to cancel a delivery to see if that prompts anything but worried I could get into trouble.

I've created a new email address with a different provider and am in the process of changing everything official over so I can dump the old email address. Not just because of this, it gets loads of horrible spam too, but it was the final straw.

Lol, but once I sent a picture of myself to my brother's email ( thinking so), it was a strange man who got a bit fussed and curious why I sent my picture. I apologised and explained my brother does not see me often and I wanted to make sure he has at least one relevant picture of me

No because I am unique! In a standard but unusual combination of names way, not because my parents called my Lightshade-Oven or similar.

I have this with an account. It's first name surname numbers@domain. It's been going on for years.
Started with getting her food tech feedback. Then college course. She got her first car which was a ford. Then it went to nursing college application and she has obviously graduated and is now off to do nursing in new Zealand/Australia.

I email back for important things to let them know. I feel like I've watched her grow up!

I also have a similar thing with a Malcolm from Swindon with my work number. Our numbers must be very similar. I get his NHS appointments, his welcome to retirement message, message from a friend with a party invite. The most disconcerting was the cats protection phoning to say his cat was ready to collect. I hope it's not still waiting! 🤣

Yes (with Gmail).

It started off with a confirmed entry of a dressage competition on Willow the horse (in Australia). I since had receipts for physio, building plans, new saddle etc.

In the UK I got one from one of the big 4 company about a home desk assessments, complete with home addresses, phone numbers and holiday details.

In the USA I have been on an email list for holiday plans, asked to register by a school to be able to monitor a child's progress. In Canada it includes receipts for money bank transfers, cat adoption request form (they got refused), pizza orders and most recently my French Canadian namesake (who caused utter chaos on Jan 1 by signing unto every dating app in Canada with my email account) appears to have got married as I got notification to download the certificate from the celebrant.

Yes. I get emails for a woman in the US.

I got invited to a couple of meet ups. I replied and said 'you have the wrong email' but still got invited to the next meet up. Then I changed my name after getting married and now I'm probably the only person with my First Name Surname so I'm OK!

No, but I own my domain, so get very little spam. I highly recommend it...

I have a typically Irish name and a simple [email protected]

There's a Texas MAGA, a Floridian Democrat, a few actual women in both Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland, a New Zealander, a Rhode Island version of me and a woman in Michigan

I've had receipts, appointment notifications, business spreadsheets, sign ups to dating sites, shipping notices from places as diverse as beauty wholesalers, car dealerships, retailers sales notifications, newsletters from States Representatives, Congressmen, a Catholic lay society called The Knights of Saint Columba and, as I'm less than five feet tall myself, my personal favourite, updates from a charity called Little People of Ireland, who support dwarfism awareness, advocate for disability adjustments, research into genetic conditions and support dwarves and their families

Not even kidding, this is their website https://lpi.ie/

Every now and again, if it looks important, I'll reply back so they can find some other way of contacting the other Gingernauts

I've sent the reply so many times, the predictive text knows what words come next

Not an email one, but a wrong mobile number one... my DH has been getting text notifications for all sorts of things for this random woman in Wales for about 5 years now 😬😳😅

I think she must be in Cardiff or somewhere near, as he is always telling me he got a text saying "pick up your Argos order" or "your nail appointment is at 3pm" and it's bloody hilarious! As her number must obviously be very similar bar one digit in hers, we presume she's obviously fairly dim and making the same mistake giving out this wrong number (my DH's!) to all delivery drivers, appointments etc! What we can never figure out though is why on earth she hasn't twigged the fact she isn't getting notifications after so long, for so many different things?! Surely if some of her uncollected orders etc will be sent back, she'd be asking why? It's really odd and quite funny in some ways 😳😅😅😅

Yes, I've had this with my Gmail account. I'd been receiving emails from a school in London for years and didn't even think they were genuine, until I heard about the problem with Gmail accounts! I phoned the school and I never got any more emails from them.

What I don't understand is why the parent didn't complain they weren't receiving emails from school, or were we both getting them?!

Yes, quite often. Someone used my email address to sign up to PayPal. Another person routinely gives out my email address, including to all her children's schools so I get emailed about her children all the time (and yes, I've called the schools to tell them and ask them to stop but they didn't for years!) and someone opened a Match.com account in Texas and that was really hard to get closed.

I only get River Island email receipts from one lady who visits the Trafford centre every Friday night 😂

I forwarded them to a few variants of my email address saying I think she'd got her address wrong and they seem to have stopped now

Yes, I get emails for people in Dublin and Australia, and once or twice for someone in Connecticut. It’s usually things like building quotes, invites to workshops, or thanks for attending things.

I’ve only emailed once when it was for a quote for something or other and seemed quite urgent. Otherwise, I ignore.

No but one of you may get my stuff. It will always be from someone who has had to type the address in themselves.
Invites to interview, confidential stuff about DC , usually important things.

I don’t have a common name at all but there’s someone in the US with the same name. She’s used my email for her account at Home Depot so I get the various emails. I contacted her and Home Depot and they said they would deal but it’s carried on so I just delete them now.

Yes!!! Drives me insane! I got their flight bookings, wig orders and loads of other crap. They live in the USA. I was really tempted to cancel one of their flights as it was driving me round the bend at the amount of emails for them I was receiving. I didn't, but I wanted to

Yep.

American me lives in Florida & is doing a big home reno (Jesus lumber is SPENDY right now) and has a teenaged son at a private catholic high school. He’s quite naughty.

Australian me has spent a FORTUNE on dental work. Poor love.

No never!

I've had the confusion with domain names, when the tld differs. Having your name as the first part of the email address might be easy to read and follow, it is also somewhat predictable, you might get more spam. Gmail has that bad habit of suggesting something like joeblow57 and what not too. I hate these to read and never remember them, not that you really need to. I kind of think you are better off with something like playthatfunkymusic at example dot com. Easy to convey to others, and vaguely memorable. You could buy the dot uk domain name for your name or a cheap xyz or other inexpensive tld, back it up with a web page to avoid confusion. Get a cheap deal and buy/rent a block of about five years to avoid price hikes. Don't be tempted by esoteric expensive tlds. Some are silly prices. There used to be email directories but people got put off using them because they just got spam.