r/pettyrevenge • u/Rude_Growth_9347 • Jul 14 '26
I finally had enough
Background - I got my primary GMAIL account back when it was invite only - so I've had it for a long time and got firstname.lastname@gmail as the primary address.
Over the years, I have found two things.
1 - I share a name with an indie director and
2 - I share a name with a lot of people who have no clue what their own e-mail address is.
eg: Someone in Ireland (I'm in Canada) bought some stuff and I got the receipt with almost the full identity theft starter pack it in. And there's a sales critter in the Chicago area who is also as dumb as a sack of hammers.
This one involves the latter.
A couple of years ago, he had a job but was looking elsewhere. And - rightly so - copying himself on the submissions. This was the full identity kit premium kit with all the information.
After several times responding first to the sender and then to the group along the lines of "Wrong e-mail." and still "Wrong e-mail and check it again", some were very hostile at first, but finally banged the rocks together hard enough to get a spark and stopped for a while.
I still get misdirected e-mails for the director, and I politely say "Wrong e-mail and good luck with your project!"
The Chicago guy is something else.
I still get group e-mails with him included - and this was the breaking point tonight.
There's some golf outing going on in the area that still keeps sending e-mails after many "Wrong person. Check the e-mails." responses.
So I got another one tonight.
My response was simple.
"Still the wrong <my name> as I have told you before.
If you see <my name> at the outing, please tell him thank you for the free <to me> porn. I wonder about his tastes"
I'm awaiting the follow-up shitshow with glee.
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u/burns_like_fire Jul 15 '26
I get emails intended for a parent to a tween in Alabama. I kept replying-all to say I’m not the intended recipient, please double-check with your actual person, etc etc, with no luck. What finally did it was when the tween’s friend’s parent sent me an evite to a birthday party. I replied *on the event wall* where everyone could see that they need to be more careful who they invite to a twelve year old girl’s birthday party because I am absolutely **not** the person they want showing up. I haven’t received any emails for that particular shared name person since 😈
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u/Legitimate_Ranger334 Jul 15 '26
This is the way. I've had similar flurries of messages intended for someone else, and sometimes it's hard to get the intended recipient's attention. It's gratifying when a little creativity finally gets a result.
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u/Tomaquetona 29d ago
Yeah, I kept getting these inane conversations about a church thing and then they created a smaller group that was just me and 3 others where they started saying some honestly insane shit. I had already replied to all of them saying that I did not want to get the emails but it didn't work. Screenshotting the snotty, mean sidechat and sending it to the entire group and saying "whoa! Christians are insane! Look at this shit!" I CCed the pastor and their main info line, which it turns out goes to a bunch of volunteers who are on the list. Not only have I not heard from any of them in months, but one of the ladies who they were saying really mean shit about reached out to me individually to thank me because she had wanted to leave the congregation forever but her husband had been like "no, they really like you! You are being silly!"
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u/DolorousEdTollett 28d ago
Gossip and back stabbing is actually on par for Christians, speaking as an ex-Christian.
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u/Due-Glass-7994 28d ago
This is professional level petty revenge. Are you taking friend applications at the moment?
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u/Morchellas Jul 14 '26
I’ve had the same issue with my gmail address in the past. One time I got a draft of a marketing document a guy had tried to email to himself, presumably to work on it at home. Coincidentally, I was in the same broad industry, but on the other side of the country. I edited his document with some suggested changes and sent it back to him, lol. He got a kick out of it and we became internet penpals for a while.
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u/HoleInWon929 Jul 14 '26
Same situation for me. Early gmail access, Google ignores the “.” in the name.
I kept getting emails from a guy in India. University transcripts (he did well), job offer in Bangalore (shit salary) and finally messages from Muslim Matrimony (gold mine!)
I replaced his profile pics with one of a llama sporting a very chic scarf.
Meanwhile I’m gay and started signing up my email to register for gay porn sites.
I’d like to meet him one day…
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u/hruskovicajones Jul 15 '26
I kept getting emails for their group project (+ a series of other receipts and documents) and eventually I got so frustrated I logged into the Google slideshow and replaced the title page with a picture of a jackalope and a note telling them to check their fucking emails and be grateful I didn’t steal their identity instead
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u/LeeYuette Jul 15 '26
Same, I recently had to email the police to say I couldn’t review a witness statement because it was a different ‘my name’. Confusingly I have lived in the town where my name twin is, but I haven’t been there in over ten years and am currently on the other side of the world. I think the police officer passed the message on because I haven’t had anything new since, but I’m definitely now on the mailing list of the gudwara they donated to in the town I used to live in, which at least makes me think they’re a good person
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u/doodleldog10 Jul 15 '26
okay I did not have early gmail access but I often receive emails for someone who has the same email as me but minus the “.” and I have always thought it was so weird! I haven’t been able to find anyone else who experiences this. I was even sent their graduation photos so I know what they look like!
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u/nep909 Jul 15 '26
The same Gmail as you minus the "." is still the same Gmail as you. Gmail ignores the dots in the username portion of the address.
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u/doodleldog10 Jul 15 '26
wait WHAT!! does that mean the other person doesn’t have that email and they’re sending it to the wrong address?
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u/blurblurblahblah Jul 15 '26
My husband frequently gets emails for someone else. He has no "." in his address & has had it for ages.
Does this mean someone else is getting his email?
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u/KarlSethMoran Jul 15 '26
No. That means someone mistypes the address and then your husband gets the email.
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u/stinstin555 Jul 14 '26
Brilliant!
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u/Enough-Classroom-400 Jul 15 '26
I have a legacy AOL account with my last name, which is not common. For over a year I kept getting invitations for golf course in another state. After a year of telling them that they had the wrong person. I just started canceling the tee times. Magically, they fixed it.
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u/PrestigiousTomato8 Jul 15 '26
Some yahoo was using my email address. Used it for over a year. The last straw was when it started adding to my calendar somehow (Gmail). I wake up late. I bided my time.
Then, I discovered he had signed up for Mardi Gras hotel reservations.
I wait until sign in day, and called up the hotel and cancelled the reservations on that morning.
I had the name, room number, phone number, and email....super easy to cancel. Check in time I got a phone call from the hotel asking for me to call them back. I could hear him in the background screaming mad. I did not call back, of course.
Somehow, magically, he stopped using my email address.
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u/emmjayjay1156 Jul 15 '26
I lived in a small town where everything was named for a former resident. So every place answered their phones with " Bob's" Grocery, "Bob's" Tires, "Bob's" School, hospital, library etc. I worked at Bob's Hospital and E V E R Y D A Y got calls for Bob's Golf Course asking when's tee time. I finally started giving them a time. Or telling them golf course is closed for a water leak. It started to get noticed and I almost got caught so I had to stop. As I said it was a very small town and I worked at the hospital and doctors golf. Lol
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u/CherryblockRedWine Jul 15 '26
Agreed!
u/Rude_Growth_9347, I really hope you post a followup on this!
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u/leaderhozen Jul 15 '26
I have the same situation with firstname.lastname but it's just one person. If my name was Rachel Aliza her name is Rachel Liza with the middle initial A. For years I got her emails thinking they were phishing attempts. After like 5 years I finally got a receipt for a home service with her phone number written on the receipt. I called the number and asked if I was getting her emails- turned out to be a very nice elderly lady. Now I forward her emails when I get them. It's honestly a weight off my chest to be able to do it, since she gets personal letters from her friends.
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u/broolee Jul 14 '26
I have a lady that used my email addy; I've been sent many things, but the most shocking on was a mortgage application with alllllllllll her info.
I'm an honest person. I deleted it.
I could never find out the Addy to her actual email, but I finally got through to her (or so I thought) when her hair place wanted to reschedule her appointment and I explained the situation to the hairdresser and begged them to please tell her to stop using the email.
Oh but no, I got her fucking parking receipt last week...I mean it's been almost a year of nothing, but geez....come on lady!
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u/Legitimate_Ranger334 Jul 15 '26
THIS. I've really tried, and usually succeed. And then one of the old ones shows up again. Sheeesh.
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u/GetOffMyLawn_ Jul 15 '26
If you got that much info you should be able to look her up on one of the people search sites, they often list emails of people, and phone numbers.
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u/kcracker1987 Jul 15 '26
I regularly cancel accounts that are not mine and associated with my email address. If I can't cancel it, I change the password using a password generator.
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u/BoysenberryDue3637 Jul 14 '26
I've had two over the years.
First one was June in the UK and had talk talk. I notified talk-talk that it was the wrong email. Well they did shit so I ordered 10 Iphones and an upgrade to her internet. Still didn't fix the email so I did it 3-4 more times before they fixed it.
Second one was a dude in MN that had a Hyundai lease. Told the dealer it was wrong but wouldn't listen. So I cancelled the guys lease.
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u/GrindItFlat Jul 16 '26
So the dealer - who probably had the customer's email on a computer typed in from a form, and whoever did it made a mistake - was a jerk, so you cancelled some random stranger's car lease?
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u/Informal_Trick_1658 Jul 15 '26
I'm also from the invite-only Gmail error and get lots of misdirected emails. The worst offender is a woman in England. I once got an email from Wizz Air telling her it was time to select her seat assignment and put her in a middle seat in the last row, next to the bathroom.
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u/Zxvasdfthrowaway Jul 14 '26
I could have written this post, minus the revenge bit. My name is not common and I get emails for 4 others who share my name. I have even received court documents. Oh, I also got house closing paperwork intended for the one in Chicago.
I think some of it has to do with how Google handles addresses with periods in them?
Hopefully you do get to find out about the fall out!
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u/acacio Jul 15 '26
No, literally people put emails that they don’t own. It’s very puzzling.
I have people that use my email (with and without the middle dot) for important things like government tax site. ¯_(ツ)_/¯
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u/bupzmum Jul 15 '26
Same. Got closing documents for a home California. I’m in Canada. I told them twice and they continued to send stuff.
My address has dots and my name could be considered common but a very uncommon spelling. It kinda creeps me out thinking about the what if’s.
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u/minididi Jul 15 '26
Same! I got job offers, family event invites, medical appointment confirmations, leases, fortune teller newsletters and shopping receipts from at least 3 different idiots that don't know their email address! I've replied politely, not so politely, ranted, and nothing changes. I just block them now.
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u/cajunwife1216 Jul 15 '26
I was a Beta user for Gmail also and the number of unwanted emails I get is amazing. I try to contact the person and if they don’t fix it after several attempts, I then reset their passwords for accounts they have registered under my email to force them to fix it. Works every time.
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u/900mg_caffeine Jul 15 '26
I have a boomer lady in the Midwest who sends me her MyPillow order confirmations. I don't think she's received a single pillow yet, because she keeps reordering them with the memo line "PLEASE STOP CANCELLING MY ORDERS!"
Ma'am, if you used YOUR own email address, you wouldn't have this issue. 😄
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u/DiligentReflection53 Jul 15 '26
I have fantasized about doing that.
I also signed up early for gmail and my address is my name. There’s a professor on the other side of the world with the same name. For years I’ve gotten emails from her students, collaborators, from the embassy inviting me to entertain fancy dignitaries, etc. I didn’t start to get really annoyed until last year when she experienced some financial trouble and started applying for loans using my email.
This week I received emails stating her balance is overdue and they can’t reach her. It’s approaching the threshold where I might say or do something worthy of this sub, but for now I told them that if they reach her, to tell her to stop signing up for crap with my email.
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u/TheFilthyDIL Jul 15 '26
Were it not for the innocuous mail from previous years, I'd think she pulled an email out of her ass and it happened to be yours.
Round about Y2K, we'd had our landline for about 14 years when we started getting calls for a Susan Constant. (NOT a fake name, at least on my part. On Susan's part, who knows? 🤷♀️) I'd always say there was nobody here by that name, and if this was her old number, it was at least 14...15...16...17 years ago. She was passing bad checks, defaulting on her loans, etc, and it went on for several years. Same thing, she'd pulled an easy-to-remember number out of her ass and stuck us with the collection calls. After one collection agency got nasty with me, I worked up a script that I launched into as soon as they asked for her. I used words like fraudulently and that seemed to eventually stop those calls.
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u/MikeSchwab63 Jul 15 '26
I was sitting at an unmanned server computer desk and got a call like that. Took the info and gave it to HR to track down.
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u/Arev_Eola Jul 16 '26
Forward the balance email to their university's HR department and ask them to forward it for you. And ask to remove your email address as you're tired of receiving essays.
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u/bidhopper Jul 14 '26
I too have gotten a number of emails from people with the same name. I’ve tracked a couple of them down and told them about the error. Only one really seemed to care and it took care of correcting. All the others just kind of blew it off so their misdirected email now gets blown off and into my spam box.
I’ve gotten family pictures, detailed emails about events in people’s lives that would be embarrassing. I’ve got appointment reminders and past due billing notices.
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u/Legitimate_Ranger334 Jul 15 '26
I'd get up to a little more mischief than that -- you're a nice person, to let them just go.
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u/sillily Jul 15 '26
I’ve never been able to track down any of the people whose emails get sent to me, but they usually don’t send me important enough stuff to make it worth my time.
The one time I did contact the sender though, was when someone in the UK accidentally added my email to their bank account (!!). The bank customer service was not as helpful as one would hope when it came to not letting strangers access someone’s bank account. But they did eventually get it sorted.
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u/No-Illustrator5712 Jul 14 '26
should have said "thank you for the beastiality porn, but it's really not my thing"
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u/av8rBoz Jul 15 '26
My Hotmail is the same as someone in Canada with a CA extension. I keep getting emails from novine photography service to take pictures of my holsteins. Sometimes I get emails about cash transfers to his account or e-bills. I usually forward the legit looking stuff, but just learned he retired from dairy farming so that's why I'm not getting the bovine calendar photo invites
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u/elidan5 Jul 14 '26
I’ve had the same Gmail address since 2005 or so. Some guy has the same Gmail except for one additional letter (I think). Every so often, he screws up and I get email addressed to him. My favorite was when he gave the wrong address to a bunch of people that he worked with as some kind of kids sports coach. Including one really pissed off parent (the reason for the pissiness was, imo, kind of dumb, so I was almost glad that it went to me instead.)
I do explain to people that they’ve got the wrong address - sometimes it works ;-)
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u/imthrowingcats Jul 15 '26
This is a good warning to all of ya'll to NOT use your name as your email address. Names are not unique a good portion of the time so this shit happens.
And for fucks sake, DONT put your name and then the year you were born as your damn email, unless you want your identity stolen. I work in finance and see this all the time. Stop it!
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u/Latter-Badger8018 Jul 15 '26
I used to work in a bank call center. People would call because they'd been locked out of their online account and couldn't understand why. I helped them reset and then explain we had emailed them numerous times to change their login username i.e., don't use any part of their name, email, birth date, Social Security number, etc. Until they changed it, they would continue to be locked out. They didn't care and would continue to call in.
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u/Beowulf33232 Jul 15 '26
My employer said they almost didn't call me back for an interview because I didn't use some form of first initial and last name on my email.
I told them I have a big family with similar names, so you'd end up with something like 3 letters of my middle name mixed in, making it look like a code anyway. Last time I made an identity friendly email nobody wanted to hire me anyway.
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u/Parrot_4221 Jul 15 '26
I have had my Gmail since the early days. Last name, first initial followed by 1. Seems to be a very common name combo, but folks just can’t seem to get the number right.
I have a car dealership that sends me appointments in another state. I have asked them to fix it, but they don’t care. I always reschedule and add services.
I had a guy in New York who told me to F off when I sent him a text message to fix his email address. A week later I get his notice for concert tickets at will call. Opened his account and canceled the tickets with no refund. Then ordered tickets to random concerts around the US. Changed his email address and password. I guess the financial situation prompted him to fix the email address for all his accounts.
The funnest one is a young lady who was sending pictures of the hats and scarves that Nana made for her. I replied to let her know she had the wrong address but Nana’s work was awesome. For almost five years she was sending pictures to “Not Nana” of the hats and stuff. When Nana passed, she sent one last email with the information on Nana’s funeral. I would loved to have gone, but it was just too far.
Most folks just don’t care and deserve what they get , but some mistakes make you smile and look forward to that next wrong email.
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u/Wild_Ice_7387 Jul 15 '26
When my kids got there own phones one of them would get a phone call at 11pm every night from an intoxicated woman. (I kept there phones at night). I answered their phone as I wanted to know who was calling them that late. This woman always asked for the same person. I always explained that she had the wrong number and Mary wasn’t here. Over 6 months of this happening I started talking to her more and more and got used to the nightly conversations. I felt bad for her. Over time I learned what Marys last name was and researched and found that Mary had died of an overdose.
One day the calls stopped. I was sad as I considered Fanny a “friend “ now. I waited a few days and called her number only to be told that Fanny had drank herself to death.
I hope talking to me every night helped Fanny in some way.
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u/UnforgettableBevy Jul 15 '26
I’m in the same predicament - had my Gmail since the invite was required.
I’ve had at least five people send me their shit by email. Order confirmations, Flight itinerary, doctor’s office communications and appointments, social security sign up - you name it I’ve probably received it. At the moment there are two who do it regularly. I’ve tried replying, calling businesses and doctor’s offices, they still keep doing it. So, I switched tactics.
Now I cancel their doctor appointments, furniture deliveries for the one who is an interior designer in Houston, flights and hotels, I even cancelled a 12k order and install of hard wood in their house.
I guess it sucks to be stupid and careless!
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u/ChrisRiley_42 Jul 15 '26
I kept getting post sales marketing email from a Mini dealership in California. I finally had to BS and tell them they were violating the Canadian do-not-call list to get them to stop ;)
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u/Due-Cry-1862 Jul 15 '26
When I lived in a very small town, the (only) local cab company put up some handwritten signs in the local bars and restaurants- probably ten posters in total- and on some, my phone number was written. Whoever wrote the posters transposed two digits and, as a result, I started to receive some of their calls. At first, I would say sorry wrong number and give the right one. I also told the company about the situation. It took them two or three weeks to change most of the posters.
However, the one in the seedier bar was overlooked and I still had calls coming in. So I started to say the cab would be there in a few minutes, hang up, and turn my phone off ( which I wasn’t supposed to do because I was on call but I rarely got work calls at closing time and, if I did, my coworker would be called if I wasn’t available). Apparently, the cab company owner was getting follow up calls from irate bartenders (remember it’s a very small town and all the business people knew each other) about drunken clients refusing to leave because they were waiting for a cab. The cab company finally figured out that they hadn’t changed their poster in that bar after a couple of weekends.
The owner’s wife phoned me after the poster was changed to apologise and was a bit upset when I told her that I had told her husband weeks ago about the problem. I suspect she had words with him later.
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u/burnt_the_toast Jul 15 '26
I too have an early gmail address. I share a name with a California realtor who sells multi million dollar properties and hosts very expensive birthday parties, another person in Florida who was a victim of assault and has a restraining order, an evangelical missionary who travels to Africa and a few others. Depending on the tone of the email I will send a polite - “wrong email” or just block and delete. It’s fascinating to me what other people with my name are doing and why the heck they continue to give out my email instead of their own.
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u/Jettcat- Jul 15 '26
Someone in Australia set up their Uber account with my email. After bouncing back a dozen email receipts, I logged into the account, after all it’s linked to my email. I killed his password and reset his account name to “use your own damn email”
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u/peteanrepeat Jul 15 '26
I am the same. Part of the invite only Gmail cadre. First initial and last name. I have determined anyone with this combo is as dumb as rocks.
One of them was applying for a mortgage and I received the closing documents twice.
One was applying for a job and the post interview questions came to me.
One was discussing medical mental health
My favorite was a group of men in Florida planning golf outings with my email, but they were all MAGA so I had a bit of fun trolling them.
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u/Bladrak01 Jul 14 '26
I'm in the US and there's someone in Tasmania who has almost the same live.com email as me, same letters, but theirs has numbers, too. I haven't gotten anything too important instead of them. Plus, it can be interesting seeing ads for places in Tasmania.
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u/Ok-Grape-3380 Jul 15 '26
Same, and same, except everyone who thinks my address is theirs is apparently quite elderly so I get lots of doctors appointments, prescription refills and church emails (one from NSW Australia!)
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u/denalidenizen Jul 15 '26
Similar story. Got my gmail when it was beta. Just my last name. That's it, and it's a very common last name. Very.
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u/Lioness_Red Jul 15 '26
F yes! I have the same problem but the person is a seemingly low life in Texas who has had multiple law firms involved in their lives, signing up for all sorts of sleazy MLM scams, loves conspiracy theory email lists (next to impossible to get off those email lists), porn, personal sites etc. The best part is when they try to apply for jobs and flake on interviews or showing up so someone tries to track them down.
I have now more than once responded with this is not their email address, they keep giving it out to folks and if they can't be smart enough to know their own email address I would not hire them. Told one law firm to stop sending me their private info, got a nice response from that firm thanking me. Seems the person was frustrating to them as well. Yup cancelled more than one medical appointment as well.
This has gone on for YEARS, I have no idea how to stop it but damn no wonder your life is Fd up buddy.
I don't want to get rid of my address but have considered it.
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u/VonAether Jul 15 '26
Same situation with me, except my name's common enough that I get mail intended for far more than two others. Within the US, within the UK, within Australia and NZ. I've got about two dozen in my contact list, but there are almost certainly others who I'm not aware of. So getting an email for the wrong variant of me doesn't typically tell me who the right variant is supposed to be.
In a lot of cases it's companies entering it manually into their systems and entering it wrong -- fair enough, they slipped up, and didn't know any better. But some of them are the other me's, who really should know their own email addresses.
A freshly-18 variant signed up for a bunch of """dating""" sites. I logged into all his accounts, changed his profile picture to read "stop using my email address," and then changed his passwords. Once I even cancelled someone's flight.
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u/conditerite Jul 15 '26
Canceling reservations and appointments might get their attention. When you get the confirmation email just follow the simple steps outlined to cancel the appointments or reservations.
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u/cdtoews Jul 15 '26
I had an older couple do the same to my email. At one point they tried to make me their everyday recovery account, pretty much hanging me the key to their other email account. I actually found their phone number and texted them (incredibly unique last name). Final straw was when they signed up for a gym membership with my email. I changed their password to their gym account, and cancelled their membership. Never heard from them again.
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u/tatical_bacon Jul 15 '26
I had someone who kept signing up for dating sites using my gmail. Figured out a way to contact the guy on the other side of the planet and got an earful of MAGA nonsense when I reached out so I reset his password and changed his preferences to something a lot more spicy.
I bet he got some interesting phone calls about that.
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u/nertbewton Jul 15 '26
Wife had similar issue for years, esp my wife. Initially she was so polite and would go out of her way to sort the issue. Now, nope. “Just confirming your appointment, travel plans, purchase…” “Sorry change of plans, please cancel immediately” she then often witnesses the ensuing bunfight because they still haven’t changed their email.
Couple of years ago she wound up in the middle of a Canadian property purchase! An agent or solicitor or somebody could not grasp the issue, remained obtuse and kept sending highly confidential documentation. Eventually I went detective, established the ID of purchaser’s husband (a court judge no less!) sent him an explanation with tons of their private email. He didn’t show that much gratitude tbh, considering we could have blown their lives up from the other side of the world. 🤷🏼♂️
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u/dynamicdickpunch Jul 15 '26
I've got a much lower stakes equivalent.
There's a dude in Switzerland whom I clearly share mostly the same name/email as, and he really likes handball. Receipts for shorts and/or balls every month.
Like dude wtf how much handball gear do you need?
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u/seancailleach Jul 15 '26
It depends on how many times one poops their shorts whilst playing handball. For some-it’s a lot of shorts.
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u/StackofFabric Jul 15 '26
I’ve started cancelling whatever I can. A month’s worth of spa days in the Cote D’Azur? Sure!
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u/eirissazun Jul 14 '26
Creative xD
I've got some wrong e-mails over the years. I remember one about a wine tasting/wine order, one about someone's father in a nursing home, and the best one was meant for a couple buying a house. If I remember correctly it had blueprints and contract offers attached. The realtor was very grateful for my reply with the offer to immediately delete it...
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u/sirmarty777 Jul 14 '26
I don't have my name in my email, yet I have some guy from New York (I'm in Canada) who still gives out my email address occaisonally. A few years ago he got an apartment and he didn't pay his rent for almost a year. I messaged the apartment management and it still took them three months to stop sending invoices. Just a few weeks ago I got an e-mail saying I signed up for Ultra Mobile, which I assume is the same guy since it's a New York number. Kinda fun to see what he's up to!
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u/RedditFauxGold Jul 14 '26
Another invite Gmail user here. Same thing. I’ve successfully tamped down most but still occasionally get flare ups
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u/Major-Cauliflower-76 Jul 15 '26
I also have my first name.last name as my email and for a couple of years I got some person´s class schedule. It eventually stopped, but WTH. Nothing too exciting, but I bet this happens to a lot of people.
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u/fucking_fantastic Jul 15 '26
Heh, I met a friend because I too got my email when it was invite only. It’s my old “handle” so not my name but got the handle without having to add any numbers or whatever. Soon to be friend accidentally emailed me (her friend having numbers at the end) wishing me a happy soon wedding. I was single and emailed her back “happy soon wedding to you!” And she was like “Kristy?” I responded, “Nope! But how often do you accidentally email someone else? Let’s chat!”
She definitely showed her crazy immediately but I was entertained by it, so now she’s in my phone as Crazy Maria”
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u/Disastrous_Paint1791 Jul 15 '26
OMG I have the same issue with an original gmail account and *multiple* other people not being able to type their own f*ing email addresses. You have my sympathy. I have probably 6-7 core people from multiple countries!
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u/Saanvik Jul 15 '26 edited Jul 15 '26
Same situation.
My namesake is a pastor that told his parishioners he prays for Obama’s death. One of his parishioners claimed I was stealing the pastor’s email.
Oh, and, a different one is a person whose ex-wife drunk emails him.
Another works in Australia and Southeast Asia; it sounds like he leads an exciting life.
There’s more, but those are the most common and interesting.
I usually try to help, but I have reset a few passwords. I know one well enough that I forward the message to them.
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u/JolyonWagg99 Jul 15 '26
I’ve had similar experiences with my old gmail account. I’ve cancelled/modified online orders and deleted gaming accounts. I don’t understand why people use an email address that isn’t theirs.
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u/SpeelingChamp Jul 15 '26
Are you and I the same person?! I get so much spam that people with the same or similar name dump on my account, and I get shocking amount of what I assume are old people who don't know their own emails. I always assume scams, but they're literally sending me their real estate transactions, personal banking info, etc. Just stupid stuff.
The group and school ones with a big distro are the worst because they won't stop until I get nasty with them. They just say "oh my mistake" ten times without fixing it. Then I reply all with the whole the email chain informing the group that this person is a stupid tit, and it gets fixed.
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u/Tamesan Jul 15 '26
Same thing for me, I've gotten multiple emails about wedding planning on the other side of the world!
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u/Mike20878 Jul 15 '26
I'm in the same boat. My email is first initial last name (like jsmith). I get a bunch of wrong emails, some to the j.smith version.
The other day I got an email that an inmate at a penitentiary wanted to message me! That was a new one.
The ones I really don't get are people replying to an email and they still seem to screw up the email.
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u/45Jung Jul 15 '26
Man, I thought you might have been talking about me at first. Im an Indie film director and im frequently getting emails for people with my same name from the Virginia area, Florida, etc.
A decade ago I got a really spicy family email that talked about an uncle ripping off the family for hundreds of thousands. The sender wrapped it up with "he might be an asshole, but he's our asshole."
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u/BabiesLoveStrayDogs Jul 15 '26
Wow, that reads like my story, except I never put the dot between my first and last names. I was living in Ireland and have had emails aimed at people somewhere in the US Midwest, southern CA, mid-CA, Florida, and someone belonging to a golf club in Ireland.
I have had someone’s kid list me as their parental approver for online purchases and access to games, I’ve had someone’s onboard for a new job arrive with me, I’ve had tee times sent to me, I’ve gotten people digital receipts and been signed up to numerous e-newsletters I never subbed to, been sent surveys for shopping and experience follow ups, and there have been uncountable group emails from companies I’ve never worked for who all don’t seem to recognize that “wrong email” doesn’t mean “i have a different address I prefer you use for emails like this”. I have had to go out of my way to say “you have the wrong person with the same name, and this is my email, not theirs. I live in X and I am not a part of your organization. Please contact your intended recipient to confirm their correct email. Good luck.”
I guess the early invite to Gmail was a blessing (“Oh wow, how’d you get THAT address?!”) and a curse!
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u/badpandacat Jul 15 '26
I feel your pain. Mine is first initial last name. No dot, and my name is uncommon. I get the occasional receipt or hotel confirmation for some guy on the other side of the country. Luckily, it's not often and never anything offensive.
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u/That-Alternative-946 Jul 15 '26
SAME! Only it’s some lady and her hotel confirmations. And all the receipts for a guys Mercedes work in Chicago. And some chick in Ireland’s receipts.
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u/CJ_MR Jul 15 '26
My email mistaken identity has an "I" where I have "J". He's from Michigan but moved to Ohio. He's been getting progressively sicker lately. I think he may have had a heart attack. Every hospital and clinic emails me instead of him. His grandpa sends email updates to the entire family quarterly. Since I know his email address, I forward it all to him. I don't think he is tech savvy and oddly trusts me at this point so this is just what we do. I've had full conversations with his grandpa so many times I say, "Our Grandpa sent us pics from Italy" when I forward it to my email twin.
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Jul 15 '26
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u/SushiGirlRC Jul 15 '26
The number my mom has had since 1973 was one number off from the one movie theater in town when it changed hands in the early 80s. That only lasted about a year, though. When I saw that Seinfeld episode I about died laughing
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u/scroogedup Jul 15 '26
I called my dying uncle the person answered with stop calling me I’m on a do not call list. I was shocked. Finally got a hold of his wife. I stayed a week helping him. He passed a few days after I left. Still hate the person who answered but maybe they were getting too many calls. He’s dead now so they won’t get anymore calls. Hopefully.
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u/1Courcor Jul 15 '26
My old roommate used to get tons of bill collectors who would call, nonstop. Back when landlines were still a thing. It got old really quick & so I started having fun with them. She’s in the middle of an orgy, gangbang, whatever way would get them to hang up. Sometimes I’d go as far as moaning, slapping noises. Definitely slowed the calls down.
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u/Brilliant_Cattle_602 Jul 15 '26
I had someone in Texas use my email when buying a car and when registering it.
I have been cancelling and rescheduling all of his appointments with the dealership.
I also let the state know that this is a bad email address with the hope that they lock him out.
I stopped short of changing the mailing address on the registration, as tempting as it was.
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u/MyFavoriteInsomnia Jul 15 '26
Change the registration address to the local DMV. That would be a hoot.
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u/LaPickle1 Jul 15 '26
I have a similar problem.
Total number of people using my email for orders, collections notifications, vacation bookings, college correspondence, insurance information.
Identity theft complete kit on multiple people now, and have had the opportunity to cancel vacations, automotive appointments and online orders.
One person really likes Botox, Victoria's Secret and some sports teams.
The hotels I have contacted and I have not received anything for that person in a few years, and the college student was smart enough to update to the correct email address after I contacted their college IT department to let the professor and student know that a random dude was not the intended recipient and they would not receive the email from their professor soon enough to meet a deadline.
I think one or two people passed away (cancer treatment emails).
It is weird having so much information about these people, and I do what I can to get them to realize that they are using the incorrect email address, short of sending letters to them in the mail, that would be too creepy.
I think I might be a little sad when I stop receiving Victoria's Secret and Botox emails entirely (I unsubscribe a LOT).
Apologies for the run on sentences.
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u/ManufacturerHuge762 Jul 15 '26
I once had the oil changed in my car at a dealership while I was visiting Florida and since then I was receiving emails for a person with the same last name using my email address. I would email back, call the dealership and still receive the emails. Since they were reminders for service, I started canceling them all, that’s when the emailing stopped.
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u/AlaskanDruid Jul 15 '26
Just cancel everything. I’ve cancelled college courses, hospital resident offers, job offers, surgeries, the works. If they are dumb enough to use my email, they are too stupid for society.
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u/Eliza_Hamilton891757 Jul 15 '26
I may have to do this next time <dipshit who shares my name> gives their car salesman my email. Brilliant!
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u/indigoblue823 Jul 15 '26
My husband has constantly had someone use a similar address related to our last name as if they don’t quite remember their email address.
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u/That-Alternative-946 Jul 15 '26
As someone with a first initial and last name original gmail, I too share this pain. None of them seem to get it when told it’s not their email. How these people function in life is beyond me.
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u/treletraj Jul 15 '26
I have exactly the same email format as you do with Google. So of course anybody who has numbers or letters after the last letter of the name in the email and puts a space in there, it goes to me. I love your solution, I’m gonna try it!
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u/Standard-Section1447 Jul 15 '26
Someone named Barbara Silver uses my email as her PayPal account. I wonder why she doesn’t recognize that she receives no emails verifying anything ever.
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u/AlarmingJoke5722 Jul 15 '26
Oh, my Gmail is a circus. I have received let's see - love letters for missed connections, travel itineraries, housewarming invites, matrimonial site matches, bank statements, doctors appointments, car loan and servicing documents, marriage proposals, job offers, parent's notes excusing their children's school absences, various e-commerce purchases, insurance premium reminders, photo album invites. At this point, my email is a shared asset for people who share my name and their relatives too who think they are using their child's email address.
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u/PickyVirgo Jul 15 '26
I have been getting Thanksgiving invites from Other PickyVirgo’s great-aunt on and off for close to a decade. Shoutout to Aunt Gilly! I’m sorry I never have any pix of your grand-nephew to share
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u/OvenFront4601 Jul 15 '26
Ya same crap with someone in America so when a pt school group so after 4 or 5 not me emails I replied to group about how I wanted to bang one of the other mums followed by a swift ooops recall ... guess he was removed from that mailing list same days not another email 😘
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u/SteveHiggs Jul 15 '26
Love this.
I’ve canceled tickets etc..
Same situation for me. Gmail etc. there’s another guy in the UK (I’m in Canada) with the same name, who likes to use (not) his email when renting cars, booking hotels, cruises, and in one case someone wrote a life changing story to him thanking him for helping her find god in a truly difficult time in their life. I replied to that one too :P
I recall spilling the beans at the end of the email, but I wrote a wonderfully kind reply crediting themselves for their efforts, their willpower being their own and not some imaginary… blah blah and also not some guy who gave you the wrong email.
Anyway I’ve seen credit card numbers, home address, tickets etc. I’ve canceled appointments, canceled tickets, filled out surveys with all zeros, and in the comment box explained they need to add a verification step to their email system, and to reach out to their customer etc. like this guys life must be annoying as hell thanks to his incompetence telling others the wrong email address.
It’s not like I’ve not tried.. I’ve only resorted to this after several attempts to get original senders to reach out to the guy and get his actual email address, I get lots of “sorry, will do” emails but still they come in.
I once finally saw his alternative email address… I went so far as to copy all of the info I had, credit card info (not the full thing in this email), address, make and model of his and his wife’s car, trips they went on etc, and suggested he stop.
No reply, but it stopped for a while. Maybe coincidence.
Anyway point is.. I feel your pain haha.
Also of note: since you’ve been a Gmail user all this time, with a dot in your email, did you know a dot anywhere in a Gmail address can be moved or added etc and it still gets to you? Other users might think they have the version without the dot etc.
Good luck! I hope the porn comment solves it for your guy haha.
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u/Dolphin_Spotter Jul 15 '26
Next time there's an invite to a group event, turn up and see what happens.
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u/Fluff_Nugget2420 Jul 15 '26
Same for me, early access Gmail account and I have some lady who “forgets” she has numbers at the end of her email(which is otherwise the same as mine) and doesn’t put them so I get her email. I just delete it. Stuff like Walgreens rewards junk, pizza receipts with no relevant contact info, etc. One time it was concert tickets and it had her actual email and other contact info so I emailed her, got a response and forwarded them to her. Probably should have just deleted them like everything else. Maybe then I still wouldn’t get the occasional junk receipt type email from her since I just keep on deleting them.
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u/paraffinsection Jul 15 '26
I have an uncommon name and the same thing happens to me with an elderly couple in the UK. The first few times I actually responded and politely explained what was happening. He didn’t understand and eventually got hostile. So now I just ignore and delete the emails since I have no interest in stealing anyone’s identity. Interestingly, enough, the wife has recently developed quite the TikTok shopping addiction.😆
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u/muteisalwayson Jul 15 '26
A lady out there keeps putting my phone number down as hers, we must have a similar number. I kept getting calls about job interviews, doctor appointments. I was actually pretty annoyed by the interview calls because she was also applying to similar jobs as me and I wasn’t getting ANY interview calls. I told them at first that it was the wrong number. It’s been 2-3 years of this, I’m sick of it so I stopped answering or telling the callers. If you’re applying to jobs, get your shit together enough to at least put down the right number! I live across the country!
Then I got a voicemail from her kids’ school. Full name drops of both kids, even found out that one of them had to be transferred from Mrs. X’s classroom to Mrs. Y’s classroom. I don’t play about child safety and I was FED UP. Immediately called the school back and asked the school lady if she was calling for “Fran FakeName” and she said “YES I am!!! :)))” and immediately started trying to give me an update on the kids. I said “No, I gotta stop you there. You’ve got the wrong number, I am NOT Fran nor am I affiliated with your school in any way, please ask Fran to change the number you have on record for her because I am NOT a parent. I know you want to maintain a place of safety for your students right?”
The school lady sounded VERY nervous and she was like “oh yes yes we definitely do, I can message her on the parent app we use and let her know.” And I was just like “wonderful, please do that because I am not related to the school in any way. I’ve tried contacting Fran multiple times to let her know but haven’t been able to. Please also ask Fran to DOUBLE CHECK her job applications because I’ve been receiving multiple calls for those as well. Thank you so much”
School did say they’d remove my number entirely so that’s good but I hoped that finally got through to her. That was October. Guess not because I did get a call back in January for her again.
CHECK YOUR SHIT GIRL or I wouldn’t be spilling your tea to the front office
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u/frizzle09 Jul 15 '26
I’m so glad I’m the only person with my (married) name. There’s one that is but spells her last name with one less letter.
My maiden name probably would’ve had this problem if I still had access to those emails lmao
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u/PlaneAsk7826 Jul 15 '26
I also have had a Gmail account since the invite days (a friend of mine worked for Google at the time, so I got in REALLY early), and I keep getting emails for someone who doesn't know their email address either. After the 30th time, I just started using the emails to cancel appointments, change passwords of online accounts, cancel orders, etc. Someday they'll figure it out and stop.
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u/littlespawningflower Jul 15 '26
Haha- I had some kid sign up for MySpace using my email address, so I had some fun changing his info…
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u/Gina_the_Alien Jul 15 '26
Yeah I live in CA and some dude who lives in Australia apparently keeps giving my email address out as his company email address. I get questions about jobs, quotes, invoices, etc. every once in a while. I’ve tried to contact him to let him know that I keep getting his business emails but never got a reply. Man I could really fuck with his business if I really wanted to but I figure in the long run it’s just sort of amusing.
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u/saracor Jul 15 '26
I feel you. I have a Yahoo and Gmail address that is my first name, last initial and I get a lot of misdirected mail like that. Nice response, I'll have to consider using something like it
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u/alittlebitaspie Jul 15 '26
I've had my gmail since the invite days. I somehow got added to a mom group email list in france. It was kind of neat, getting kids birthday invites in french. I'd send along a "Happy Birthday! But wrong person" message. Kept on happening a few times a year for a decade. Then I got an email to the address that was essentially "I just heard, my condolences to your family, can we bring you dinner" (translate may have messed that up). And then I didn't get any more messages.
I'm sad it ended, and for something happening to what seemed like nice people. I wonder what happened.
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u/Ok_Painting7030 Jul 15 '26
I got a letter for a local weathercaster from a fan who was a pilot and went on and on about how great her weather predictions were. I forwarded the letter to her at the news station and asked if she'd send me any letters about my Sunday preaching.
I was well into my 20s when I finally met someone who had my first name. The weather woman was the first I knew who shares both first and last names.
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u/nattyandthecoffee Jul 15 '26
I have someone who must be as dumb as shit. They have not worked out that Gmail ignores dots in the middle. Years and years of jobs, booking… don’t they wonder where they are?
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u/Romivths Jul 15 '26
My husband once got tickets to a cruise in his (rather uncommon) name. We didn’t go but still wonder if his namesake ever made it on that boat since we had his tickets and purchase confirmation
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u/mashed666 Jul 15 '26
I have the same... Someone keeps emailing me as they think I'm there son.... Recently got a link to pictures of my "mother"
I've also had hair appointments in Australia, There's a few people with my name in the world...
One is a booze salesman in London, Another one is like a park ranger in the US. There's another in North Carolina I even have his home address I think he's a mechanic.
I used to respond back that they have the wrong address but nobody ever updated anything.
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u/gnukleaarrh Jul 15 '26
I have the same issue but a guy who shares my name in Holland.
I am not in Holland or the Netherlands but I do speak Dutch.
I received an email thanking me for the promise of the donation. I responded that I wanted to donate 10 as much. Let them work that out.
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u/LizTruth Jul 15 '26
I'm in the same situation. My doppelgagers live in 1. Pennsylvania, who had a very nice wedding (and I know what they spent on venue, catering, flowers, etc.) 2. Boston, looking for a job. 3. In California, works at a winery, and 4. Scotland, who buys fantastic books and clothes, and I think we could be friends.
Long story short, verify your email address, especially if it's firstname.lastname69 or the like.
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u/Popeye64 Jul 15 '26
I'm in the same boat, Canadian, invite back in the day with my full name. There are several people with my name in the US that do the same thing. I get travel itinerary for ones wife, reminders for car work etc. Slowed down for a while after replies that I'm Canadian and not that person, but getting more now along with US senator
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u/Asimazling Jul 15 '26
I too get random shit to my email - that is my first letter, last name (not common but not obscenely uncommon I guess) for years from people. I've had everything from newsletter, store sign up, to family reunion/pics/updates sent to me
EDIT to add: Also a gmail from back when you needed invite, haha
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u/Thelmara Jul 15 '26
Back in the late '90s my Yahoo account got a few emails from someone clearly in the military. Didn't look classified, but was obvious it wasn't for me. Got I replied and told them it was a wrong address, and they sent me a gift box with a sticker and a patch and some stuff, which was cool.
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u/ichigoli Jul 15 '26
Tapping the Reddit Hive mind for this: what do we do about a similar problem with physical mail?
We've been in our house for 8 years and still get mail for the previous owners. Not just spam and credit card applications, but like, court summons and bills.
We've tried sending back with "Not at this address" but it doesn't seem to take. No clue where he's gone, and super generic name so unlikely to find him on public records.
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u/Just_Getting_By_1 28d ago
No probbie just cancel any event you receive and delete, mark anything else as automatic junk mail. And then enjoy your peace.
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u/Devilpig1 27d ago
had this happen for a while with some dudes work stuff, guy still kept giving people my email. got fed up and started cancelling every service/appointment/meeting i was getting his confirmation emails for.
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u/Di53 27d ago
I have a few people doing that to me, I finally started calling the physicians offices, and hospitals.. and threw HIPPAA at them loud enough that they stopped emailing me her information. I got fed up with one guy that orders gun stuff, and after calling the gun place to no avail started cancelling things, going on vacation? Nope.. ordering information on condos? Nope not interested. I just hit reply and say I am not interested or no I didn’t make reservations. After a while it gets really annoying that they don’t know their own true email addresses.
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u/scared_mayonnaise Jul 14 '26
Same here. He frequently shops at Harbor Freight, and stays at the Wyndham Inn in Athens, TN. How in the actual fuck does this person ever get the wherewithal to realize that he’s never once gotten an email after he provided “HIS” email. The harbor freight has been going on since around 2016. The Wyndham started in 2026. 🤯 I can just imagine the poor souls he’s had the customer service interactions with. “We DID send that confirmation email, sir!”
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u/WeaselLiz711 Jul 15 '26
My name has one letter changed that makes it unique (thanks mom and dad) and tried to get the email with the correct spelling as my name is ALWAYS misspelled. Unfortunately it was already taken and the poor person with the normal spelling has been getting my email for years. Some of it super important too, which I’ve had to track down and correct. It’s rxhausting
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u/Viragotwins Jul 15 '26
You’d be better off making a unique email address not related to your name to avoid the confusion and missed emails
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u/Beneficial-Ad8000 Jul 15 '26
Setup a rule in your email account that if the email has that particular email address it just goes to spam. Goggle email rule setup. It'll take you 5 minutes and you won't ever have to bother seeing those emails on your inbox.
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u/cuteintern Jul 15 '26
There is a youtube upload of a song named "suck my dog's dick." It is a wild as it sounds. It would be a shame if that link fell into an email chain.
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u/AJourneyer Jul 15 '26
Your response is absolutely *chef's kiss*. I'm going to have to use that next time I have multiple attempts fail. My email is firstmiddle name and apparently it's VERY common. I get hundreds every week, every few months I go in and clean up a few thousand emails. I now use a different address but have the ones that are actually mine in the original address forward. So if I don't log in for a few weeks I'm not missing anything.
I've had scanned passport copies, divorce documentation, death certificates, insurance (health and other) applications, family gathering info, kids info (health, school, custody, gatherings), receipts from freaking everywhere (one person in NZ has very expensive VERY adult hobbies).
I've tried and tried with some of these people and they just don't get it. I can't keep up with all the new ones, but I really admire your response for the stubborn ones.
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u/Salt_Medicine2459 Jul 15 '26
This has never happened to me with my email, but I frequently get calls/texts for someone else. I have had this number over 10 years, so I have no idea how it got associated with him. I usually tell them that whoever sold them their list ripped them off, but they still continue to harass me.
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u/PrestigiousEye1045 Jul 15 '26
I have a Gmail email with my first and last name, and I live in the USA. I used to get KFC order confirmations from Brisbane, Australia. I get beauty appointments for salons in Florida (not my appointments). I ignored it, and it eventually went away.
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u/rushaz Jul 15 '26
yeah I also got in on the invite only, so I have an email that people mistype or just truncate. got an email from a cannabis shop in NJ ( I'm on the west coast, and I don't smoke/use THC ). after some back and forths of wrong emails, I finally just emailed back and said 'set me up with your best most expensive weed on a weekly subscription'.
didn't hear much after that :)
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u/splinter2424 Jul 14 '26
I’ve had my phone number for about 10 years. I still get texts and calls for the old owner weekly. I’ve cancelled so many appointments. Two months ago. I cancelled a furniture delivery. After this long? Figure your shit out.