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I have a first initial last name gmail account and I see a lot of this kind of thing. Tons of companies don't verify email addresses and many make it impossible

by wl 12y ago

I have a first initial last name gmail account and I see a lot of this kind of thing. Tons of companies don't verify email addresses and many make it impossible to do anything about it. Cell phone companies, banks, insurance companies, PayPal, eBay, Apple... it's getting rather ridiculous at this point.

r00fus 12y ago
I wonder if a shaming campaign like plaintextoffenders would be productive...
knodi123 12y ago
Tell me about it . My gmail account is actually the name of a common job title, and I get tons of stuff. Constant stream of resumes from india. Lots of random account signup confirmations. Once a guy set up his motion activated webcam to send me snapshots whenever it saw something, that was creepy. But I do love my vanity address, so I'll live with it! :-)
Doctor_Fegg 12y ago
Tangentially related and amusing anecdote: http://dotat.at/tmp/railtrack.pdf http://dotat.at/tmp/railtrack.pdf (summary: troublemaker registers 'Railtrack Ltd' as UK limited company after dissolution of the previous Railtrack, which owned the country's rail network; long succession of solicitors, land agents etc. fail to do basic research and send legal demands to this new Railtrack Ltd; merriment ensues)
5555624 12y ago
Mine is a first and middle initial and last name gmail account. Some woman just bought a Honda and I get email from the dealership. I get contracts and song demos for an American country music singer-songwriter. (I get email from his pickup truck dealership all the time, too.) Someone else just applied for a job at Wells Fargo. Some guy is building a house in North Carolina. Attempts to correct the problem rarely work. In South Africa, someone with the same initials added his wife's initial before the last name and once I figured that out, I've been able to correct realtors and banks. (I've gotten copies of leases and loan documents.) He and I have exchanged a few emails about it. His wife even invited me to their twins birthday party.
wrs 12y ago
I have a fairly common name with first.last@gmail.com and have a whole set of filter rules to get rid of the mail that can't be stopped. Once someone with my name signed me up for what seemed to be every dating website in Europe. I resisted the temptation.

by wl 12y ago

r00fus 12y ago

I wonder if a shaming campaign like plaintextoffenders would be productive...

knodi123 12y ago

Tell me about it . My gmail account is actually the name of a common job title, and I get tons of stuff. Constant stream of resumes from india. Lots of random account signup confirmations. Once a guy set up his motion activated webcam to send me snapshots whenever it saw something, that was creepy. But I do love my vanity address, so I'll live with it! :-)

Doctor_Fegg 12y ago

Tangentially related and amusing anecdote: http://dotat.at/tmp/railtrack.pdf http://dotat.at/tmp/railtrack.pdf (summary: troublemaker registers 'Railtrack Ltd' as UK limited company after dissolution of the previous Railtrack, which owned the country's rail network; long succession of solicitors, land agents etc. fail to do basic research and send legal demands to this new Railtrack Ltd; merriment ensues)

5555624 12y ago

Mine is a first and middle initial and last name gmail account. Some woman just bought a Honda and I get email from the dealership. I get contracts and song demos for an American country music singer-songwriter. (I get email from his pickup truck dealership all the time, too.) Someone else just applied for a job at Wells Fargo. Some guy is building a house in North Carolina. Attempts to correct the problem rarely work. In South Africa, someone with the same initials added his wife's initial before the last name and once I figured that out, I've been able to correct realtors and banks. (I've gotten copies of leases and loan documents.) He and I have exchanged a few emails about it. His wife even invited me to their twins birthday party.

wrs 12y ago

I have a fairly common name with first.last@gmail.com and have a whole set of filter rules to get rid of the mail that can't be stopped. Once someone with my name signed me up for what seemed to be every dating website in Europe. I resisted the temptation.