4 ms·

How generic is your email address? This has literally never happened to me (to my recollection).

SamBam 10y ago
I have [first-initial][last-name]@gmail.con. My last name is pretty uncommon, but there are at least a thousand of us or so in the US. I probably get a dozen emails a month to people who are not me (not counting all the ones that end up in the spam folder after I'm on a damn list). Susan. Stephen. Another Sam. So many damn S. Lastnames around. On occasion I've tracked the people down. I've forwarded their emails if they seem important. And whenever I ask that they be more careful and memorize their own email address, they get defensive and tell me someone else made a mistake. Buddy, this email was was an automated response from a computer after you signed up for something. No, it did not just randomly decide to send to my @gmail instead of your actual @yahoo address. YOU just don't know your own email.
- bsder 10y ago
  The real problem is that you are all on the same email provider. If we didn't have a monoculture in email providing, this would be far less of an issue.
  - lazyasciiart 10y ago
    Do you think yahoo and Gmail are the same email provider?
    - zargon 10y ago
      Enough people clearly do -- they think that all email addresses end in @gmail.com, even if they check their email at yahoo.com. Because we have an email monoculture.
camiller 10y ago
I have (first initial)(mid initial)(last name) at gmail. Same as my HN id. And a very common last name! 16 months into my first job out of University I got a call from a headhunter intended for the other Chris Miller sitting 2 cubicles away from me. At my second and fourth jobs there were also other Chris Millers. And from my list of examples, most all have the same last name.
- Symbiote 10y ago
  4 days into university, the first time I logged in to the email account, I had several messages waiting for me, all intended for the same person, the best of which was: "Hi X. The £80 million for the new biomedical building is approved, please make the transfer ASAP." It turned out I had the same unusual name as the most senior financial officer.

I have [first-initial][last-name]@gmail.con. My last name is pretty uncommon, but there are at least a thousand of us or so in the US. I probably get a dozen emails a month to people who are not me (not counting all the ones that end up in the spam folder after I'm on a damn list). Susan. Stephen. Another Sam. So many damn S. Lastnames around. On occasion I've tracked the people down. I've forwarded their emails if they seem important. And whenever I ask that they be more careful and memorize their own email address, they get defensive and tell me someone else made a mistake. Buddy, this email was was an automated response from a computer after you signed up for something. No, it did not just randomly decide to send to my @gmail instead of your actual @yahoo address. YOU just don't know your own email.

bsder 10y ago
The real problem is that you are all on the same email provider. If we didn't have a monoculture in email providing, this would be far less of an issue.
- lazyasciiart 10y ago
  Do you think yahoo and Gmail are the same email provider?
  - zargon 10y ago
    Enough people clearly do -- they think that all email addresses end in @gmail.com, even if they check their email at yahoo.com. Because we have an email monoculture.

camiller 10y ago

I have (first initial)(mid initial)(last name) at gmail. Same as my HN id. And a very common last name! 16 months into my first job out of University I got a call from a headhunter intended for the other Chris Miller sitting 2 cubicles away from me. At my second and fourth jobs there were also other Chris Millers. And from my list of examples, most all have the same last name.

Symbiote 10y ago
4 days into university, the first time I logged in to the email account, I had several messages waiting for me, all intended for the same person, the best of which was: "Hi X. The £80 million for the new biomedical building is approved, please make the transfer ASAP." It turned out I had the same unusual name as the most senior financial officer.