>>> The intruiging part of this is they should never have been able to get a GMail address using a variation of my name (say my removing or adding a .) since GM

>>> The intruiging part of this is they should never have been able to get a GMail address using a variation of my name (say my removing or adding a .) since GMail says they disallow it Dots are ignored a in gmail address. johnsmith@gmail.com and john.smith@gmail.com is the same inbox.