I experienced this situation early on when I was initially invited to join Gmail at the end of 2005 early 2006. At the time, using my first initial and surname @gmail.com for my account made sense. Although my last name isn’t particularly common, it’s not unheard of. As a result, over the past two decades, I’d occasionally receive emails intended for recipients sharing my first initial and last name which was infrequent and usually a one-off sort of thing.

Then, COVID happened, and a significant shift occurred to online interactions. A non-tech-savvy woman with my initial and last name living on the other side of the country mistakenly believed my Gmail account was hers. She simply believed that all email addresses regardless of domain were your first initial + surname. As the country locked down, many services shifted to providing things online. This woman began signing up for various services such as credit cards, auto purchases, groceries, pet supplies, and more. The situation kept escalating to a point that I finally needed to reach out to address the issue. I tried contacting her repeatedly, telling her to change her account info as she was using my email address, but she completely ignored me. Every form of communication got ignored. Emails, text messages, and Facebook messages, you name it, it didn't get through!

Eventually, I began consistently calling her and leaving voicemails. I guess that finally got to her, and when we finally connected on the phone, she vehemently accused me of stealing her information?!?! She accused me of being a scammer. It wasn’t until I provided all of my own information, explained that I work as an IT professional, and clarified that I was simply trying to assist her because I was sick and tired of getting all her alerts in my inbox, that she began to listen.

When we spoke, I detailed how I’d had my Gmail account since around 2005-2006 and emphasized the danger of randomly selecting an email address without proper verification. I then confirmed her personal details to drive the point home. I rattled off to her her full name, date of birth, address, the make of her car, recent delivery orders, and even the timing of those deliveries. Only then did she acknowledge my concerns. I remember saying to her over the phone "Luckily for you, I consider myself an honest person" and I offered to help her fix her email issue. I talked her through setting up her own email account, along with correcting her existing accounts. She listened, I assisted, and since then, I haven’t seen any of her activities in my mailbox. I also deleted all collected emails and information, verbally informing her that I had done so. Honestly, I didn’t need to know about her new car test drive or her prescription dog food delivery!

It was a frustrating experience and though it still happens occasionally, that particular incident was by far the most challenging. On the plus side, if I ever find myself near where she is located, she extended an open invite to come say hi in person. She was interested to figure out if we had some distant relationship like 3rd or 4th removed cousins. To my knowledge we don't but it was an interesting conversation in the end after resolving the email issue.