I had a mobile mechanic come to my house today to work on my car. I paid by credit card and the tech said he would send me a receipt. I expected to get it by text, since that is how we communicated, but I got it by email. I didn’t give them my email address. I’m curious how they got that info. Anyone know? They used Square and the receipt timestamp is one minute after the payment went through.
If you ever used that CC with Square for a transaction which you entered your email, Square may have saved it off. Now anytime you use that CC with Square, they’ll send the receipt to that email.
Square has it linked on their back end.
My wife who vends with Square confirms my suspicion. At some point in time you gave Square your email address (possibly with another vendor), so within the Square system your credit card is tied to your email address. The mechanic does not have your email address, because the information flow is from vendor to Square, and not from Square back to the vendor.
Thanks everyone for the prompt replies! I just checked and indeed I’ve gotten a couple receipts lately from Square for work I’ve had done on the house. And in those cases, the companies had my email address. I didn’t think it was malicious in any way but I was just surprised to get it. Thanks again. You guys are the best!
I would have said Square has it from a prior transaction that flowed thru them…if three others didn’t ninja me first.
Ditto. Happens to me all the time.
So many small vendors, handymen, solo service workers like barbers, beauticians, musicians, housekeepers, etc., and Mom n pop restaurants use Square. I get a receipt for something from Square probably 2-3x/week. I gave my email address to none of those folks at the time.