Someone using my email address

[maddog]

Can anything be done about this?

It's not like my email was hacked; at least I don't think so since my password is secure and completely unguessable.

And normally, I would think it's just a spammer or an autobot of some sort. But someone by the name of Oksana Rossi signed my email address up for about 10 different websites, courses, and catalogs in the last couple of days - almost all baby-related. I apparently have a 30 week old baby! This person is mainly using my email address to get free stuff mailed to her address. One of the catalogs or courses in fact sent me back a confirmation with this woman's address (I suppose that could be fake too, but I don't think so since most of them are for free samples and gifts). I don't understand how legit websites don't wait for confirmation from the actual email address before sending multiple emails to said address!

I'm so annoyed, I want to send a complaint to her address.

Last year I found out my email address was being used by some girl for her Myspace (for years I never bothered to look at the emails from Myspace saying I have a friend confirmation and things like that), using the worst profanity I've ever seen. It was a nightmare getting that off the website.

Is there anything I can do to stop this? I don't even mind regular spams, but this is getting completely absurd.

 

[ronsdiva]

I guess it is possible that her e-mail address is close to yours and she is making a consistent typing error.

You could contact the vendors to make certain that your e-mail is deleted from their e-mail offers. You could drop a post card to her (leaving off your return address or using your work or a post office address) stating you are getting e-mail offers for her and she should update the vendors with her correct e-mail address. I would not include your e-mail address.

If she is just making a consistent error for some reason (pregnancy hormones can do strange things) you are just being kind. If it is a scam of some kind, you won't be giving any information to her.

 

[dell]

^^ I think that is a great idea.^^ Can't you unsubscribe from the websites too, that way you quit getting the emails from them.

 

[cvs123]

Wow, that's weird though. I think you should do what Dell said. Try to see if you can unsubscribe. Couldn't you also contact your provider, and see what they said about it.

 

[SPOILEDkiwi]

I don't know, but it doesn't sound like she's purposely using your email address. When people need a bogus e-mail address to sign up for something, they usually enter something gibberish like [email protected]. I don't know anyone that would take the time to enter an actual normal sounding email address and then keep using the exact same one over again. My guess is that she is accidentally incorrectly typing her own email address. Or, it's someone you know playing a prank on you.

 

[K.Z.]

^ I've seen it done.

I would unsubscribe from as many of the websites as possible and send a letter to the person using the email--not assuming malice--telling her that perhaps she misspelled the email, whatever, and can she please make the correction...stop using your email, etc.

The fact that this is happened to you before, though, raises a red flag for me. Perhaps you're posting and/or using your email address in such a way that is making you vulnerable to this kind of situation.

 

[maddog]

^ That's what I thought, that if I were to purposely put a fake address, I would use a completely bogus address that can't be real.

But my name and this woman's name are nothing alike. My email address is essentially my name, doesn't represent anything, isn't in any song or motto or phrase, and a fairly uncommon name at that. So I think that rules out the idea that she a similar email address.

Thanks for your ideas. I unsubscribed to everything so far, but I also noticed some websites have fine prints that essentially says even if you unsubscribe, it's only from this one thing and they will still keep your address for other reasons. I'm also worried about further spams because I read an article years ago that you should never type your email address into the Unsubscribe Me box because all it does is send your email address somewhere else where you get further spams.

I am completely baffled, and I also thought of the idea that someone is playing a prank. But very few people know that particular address, none of which is the type to play pranks. This woman lives in NYC, the girl on Myspace who used my email address was from Texas or somewhere down south, and she was definitely a real person and a complete stranger, carrying on long conversations about girls she want to beat up, with her actual photos. That girl at least has a somewhat similar name.

I guess I just really don't get it. It's a fairly simple email address.

And it's a Yahoo account, so I doubt they'll do anything about it.

 

[maddog]

The fact that this is happened to you before, though, raises a red flag for me. Perhaps you're posting and/or using your email address in such a way that is making you vulnerable to this kind of situation.

Yes, you are right. I think I will need to phase this email account out the way this keeps going.

I only use that email address with my family and a few old friends. Due the enormous amount of spams I suddenly started getting at this email some years back, I've started using this email address as the one for any online purchase I make. I only purchase from well known sites like Bluefly, Ebay, Mario Badescu, Revolve, Zappos, etc. I subscribe to maybe 1-3 other sites and they are all well known, legit sites, and none of which is baby-related.

This is why it is so baffling.

 

[kattykay]

hmm..couldnt you log onto that girls myspace now? I would send a letter to her house or since you have all the info im sure you can find the phone number and call her and tell her to stop asap

 

[K.Z.]

I do keep more than one email account. One I used only for personal stuff and cc bills. I use the other for all else--entering contests, forums, ordering stuff, etc.

 

[LissiSays]

That is annoying. I actually have 2 email addresses. One I use for personal stuff, friends and school. The other I use for registering to sites I think might spam me. I check that email less often and don't have it set to forward to my phone.

But I agree, maybe I nice letter or postcard letting them know you are getting their confirmations and whatnot is a good way to go. You can also just tag all that stuff as spam so it doesn't enter your Inbox. Or unsubscribe.

Good luck!

 

[sarahloveslouis]

This happened to me before:

Someone used my e-mail address (one that I didn't use) to sign up for MySpace. I tracked her down on there and sent her message after message saying to change it! She was ignoring me so I got fed up. I tried to sign-on but said that I forgot my password so that I could get it e-mailed. I logged right in there and deleted that account! Had she e-mailed me back on MySpace it probably wouldn't have come to that, but she was one ignorin'-hoochiemama.

 

[maddog]

^ that was exactly what I ended up doing with the MySpace account. It took forever because somehow even the password I got using the "forgot my password" link didn't work for a while (the girl used an exclamation mark in there and it somehow screwed it up). MySpace wouldn't do anything about it until I threatened a bit more, and then magically, the password all of a sudden worked for me.

I wasn't about to contact the girl because she sounded pretty unstable.

Maybe I'll send that postcard to this woman.

Thank you girls! I'm glad I'm not the only one who's experienced this (though not glad for those of you who had to).

 

[Charlie]

I guess it is possible that her e-mail address is close to yours and she is making a consistent typing error.

You could contact the vendors to make certain that your e-mail is deleted from their e-mail offers. You could drop a post card to her (leaving off your return address or using your work or a post office address) stating you are getting e-mail offers for her and she should update the vendors with her correct e-mail address. I would not include your e-mail address.

If she is just making a consistent error for some reason (pregnancy hormones can do strange things) you are just being kind. If it is a scam of some kind, you won't be giving any information to her.

^^ I think that is a great idea.^^ Can't you unsubscribe from the websites too, that way you quit getting the emails from them.

ITA, she might have made up a fake email address to get the free samples without any spam and it turns out that is the one you use. I could happen.

Sorry, that must be a total PITA but you cal always unsubscribe from those sites.

That is annoying. I actually have 2 email addresses. One I use for personal stuff, friends and school. The other I use for registering to sites I think might spam me. I check that email less often and don't have it set to forward to my phone.

That's what I do too.

 

[Lvbabydoll]

This kind of sounds like what happened in one of my classes at school once...we had a TA who had a certain email address(first and last name), but used her middle initial in it. Well when people would go to send their assignments to her, they'd omit the middle initial and it would get sent to someone else.
Finally that person emailed my professor saying they were getting people's assignments and to check their addresses. It was some girl at college in Colorado who was getting all that email!