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I've used Gmail since 2003 and consequently was (un)lucky enough to get my $FIRSTNAME@gmail.com - it's certainly handy but boy do I get a lot of spam - 3-400 hu

I've used Gmail since 2003 and consequently was (un)lucky enough to get my $FIRSTNAME@gmail.com - it's certainly handy but boy do I get a lot of spam - 3-400 hundred a day I expect. I've definitely noticed an uptick recently and what is most perplexing is that some seem like they'd be easy to catch - in fact, I set up some Gmail filters to do so and they seem to be working 100%.

tracker1 4y ago
I can only imagine, mine is a pretty popular name as well, I see quite a few entries where I get mail obviously to other people... It gets kind of annoying to say the least... Examples like, someone put me on their Farm Equipment account, so I was getting receipts and marketing... Also got on someone's college application, so funding notifications etc. I have sometimes made an effort to contact the org or person in question... I did manage to change someone's password for a dating site, and changed their profile to "I don't know how email works" etc. When I couldn't reach the person.
- callumprentice 4y ago
  Heh- I get quite a lot with content like: "Hi - Grandma here - so nice to see to see you last week and glad your studies are going well. I hope you liked the sweater I sent over. Lots of love." Still not sure if they're real and granny assumes @gmail.com must be the right email for her grandson's name or it's some sneaky phish. I get a lot of personal info too like paystubs and legal docs for other people with my first name. I usually reply with "you have the wrong person - you might want to check" and receive a surprising amount of replies like "how dare you read private email - delete immediately or we will take legal action... " Oh well.
daemoens 4y ago
Could you share those filters?
- callumprentice 4y ago
  I don't think there is a way to export filters from Gmail but they're just a collection of simple rules like: "Congrats CALLU !" in subject goes to spam Like I alluded to in my post, it feels like these would be easy for Gmail to catch directly.

tracker1 4y ago

I can only imagine, mine is a pretty popular name as well, I see quite a few entries where I get mail obviously to other people... It gets kind of annoying to say the least... Examples like, someone put me on their Farm Equipment account, so I was getting receipts and marketing... Also got on someone's college application, so funding notifications etc. I have sometimes made an effort to contact the org or person in question... I did manage to change someone's password for a dating site, and changed their profile to "I don't know how email works" etc. When I couldn't reach the person.

callumprentice 4y ago
Heh- I get quite a lot with content like: "Hi - Grandma here - so nice to see to see you last week and glad your studies are going well. I hope you liked the sweater I sent over. Lots of love." Still not sure if they're real and granny assumes @gmail.com must be the right email for her grandson's name or it's some sneaky phish. I get a lot of personal info too like paystubs and legal docs for other people with my first name. I usually reply with "you have the wrong person - you might want to check" and receive a surprising amount of replies like "how dare you read private email - delete immediately or we will take legal action... " Oh well.

daemoens 4y ago

Could you share those filters?

callumprentice 4y ago
I don't think there is a way to export filters from Gmail but they're just a collection of simple rules like: "Congrats CALLU !" in subject goes to spam Like I alluded to in my post, it feels like these would be easy for Gmail to catch directly.