# Someone is using my gmail to set up new accounts **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 22, 2019, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-is-using-my-gmail-to-set-up-new-accounts/830001 "2019-02-22T05:01:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MagicEyes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@MagicEyes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MagicEyes)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2019, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-is-using-my-gmail-to-set-up-new-accounts/830001/1 "2019-02-22T05:01:30Z")
Someone is trying to set up new accounts with my gmail address. I just got three confirmation emails, so I’ve taken care of those, but I don’t know if it’s been used anywhere else. How can I keep my email account secure? And what is really happening here? Are they trying to steal my email address? Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2019, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-is-using-my-gmail-to-set-up-new-accounts/830001/2 "2019-02-22T05:04:56Z")
You could change your Google password to be very safe, but it’s probably just someone who [doesn’t know their email address](https://xkcd.com/1279/). ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2019, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-is-using-my-gmail-to-set-up-new-accounts/830001/3 "2019-02-22T06:35:11Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > You could change your Google password to be very safe, but it’s probably just someone who [doesn’t know their email address](https://xkcd.com/1279/). That was my first thought, too. I do that. I have an email like Nameoftheemail01, and on a regular basis, I forget the “01” at the end when I register somewhere and presumably whoever uses “Nameoftheemail” must receive the corresponding messages. ---
**Author:** ![yendis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ed8c4c/32.png) [@yendis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yendis)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2019, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-is-using-my-gmail-to-set-up-new-accounts/830001/4 "2019-02-22T10:42:22Z")
you could also enable [2 factor authentication](http://www.google.com/landing/2step/)to make your account more secure. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2019, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-is-using-my-gmail-to-set-up-new-accounts/830001/5 "2019-02-22T14:48:52Z")
For certain definitions of [secure.](https://techcrunch.com/2018/09/27/yes-facebook-is-using-your-2fa-phone-number-to-target-you-with-ads/) Maybe just change up your password regularly for a while to make your email address less palatable if someone’s being nefarious. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2019, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-is-using-my-gmail-to-set-up-new-accounts/830001/6 "2019-02-22T14:57:18Z")
You may have a doppelganger. I have a gmail address that goes “[word1.word2@gmail.com](mailto:word1.word2@gmail.com)”. I get email for “[word1word2@gmail.com](mailto:word1word2@gmail.com)”. Look at the details on the header. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2019, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-is-using-my-gmail-to-set-up-new-accounts/830001/7 "2019-02-22T15:27:14Z")
> [@yendis](#): > > you could also enable [2 factor authentication](http://www.google.com/landing/2step/)to make your account more secure. Best advice. Enable MFA on every account you can: Google, Amazon, your banks/creditcard/retirement, etc. More are starting to do it be default, but you can speed it up on your own. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2019, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-is-using-my-gmail-to-set-up-new-accounts/830001/8 "2019-02-22T15:29:25Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > You may have a doppelganger. I have a gmail address that goes “[word1.word2@gmail.com](mailto:word1.word2@gmail.com)”. I get email for “[word1word2@gmail.com](mailto:word1word2@gmail.com)”. Look at the details on the header. FYI: You have a lot of possible email variations that work: w.ord1word2, wo.rd1word2, [w.o.r.d.1.w.o.r.d.2@gmail.com](mailto:w.o.r.d.1.w.o.r.d.2@gmail.com), etc. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2019, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-is-using-my-gmail-to-set-up-new-accounts/830001/9 "2019-02-22T15:38:35Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > You may have a doppelganger. I have a gmail address that goes “[word1.word2@gmail.com](mailto:word1.word2@gmail.com)”. I get email for “[word1word2@gmail.com](mailto:word1word2@gmail.com)”. Look at the details on the header. This has been happening to me for a while now. Supposedly, though, the other person can’t sign up for the “[word1word2@gmail.com](mailto:word1word2@gmail.com)” address so they never actually can see the mail. So why are they putting that address down as theirs? ---
**Author:** ![Turble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Turble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turble)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2019, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-is-using-my-gmail-to-set-up-new-accounts/830001/10 "2019-02-22T15:54:13Z")
Google ignores periods in gmail addresses. The only one that matters is the one in .com ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2019, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-is-using-my-gmail-to-set-up-new-accounts/830001/11 "2019-02-22T16:07:37Z")
Just because someone is using your email address doesn’t mean your email account is compromised in any way. Your email address is not a secret. What do you mean you have “taken care of those” confirmation emails? I would use the information to log into the site, change the password (most likely a reset message will be sent to your email address) and find out the other registration information on the account (name, phone). I would only do this for known trusted sites, otherwise it could be some sort of phishing attack. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2019, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-is-using-my-gmail-to-set-up-new-accounts/830001/12 "2019-02-22T16:10:04Z")
> [@MagicEyes](#): > > Someone is trying to set up new accounts with my gmail address. I just got three confirmation emails, so I’ve taken care of those, but I don’t know if it’s been used anywhere else. How can I keep my email account secure? And what is really happening here? Are they trying to steal my email address? The possibilities I can think of are: 1. As others have suggested, someone is mistakenly typing your email address instead of their own. 2. Someone is trying to use your email address to set up accounts in the belief or hope that they won’t have to actually access the email account and respond to a confirmation email in order to have a working account. (They might have seen your email address somewhere, or they might have just hit upon it when randomly trying to guess a valid email address.) 3. Someone who knows your email address is trying to mess with you by signing up for accounts in your “name.” 4. Someone has somehow gained access to your email account and is using it to set up accounts. On preview, **CookingWithGas** ’s suggestion: 5. These aren’t really “confirmation emails” but rather phishing attempts: fake emails that don’t really come from who they say they come from. Unless it’s #4 (which wouldn’t be the first conclusion I’d jump to, without any additional evidence), there’s nothing insecure about your email account. ---
**Author:** ![Wolf333](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf333/32/3460_2.png) [@Wolf333](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolf333)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2019, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-is-using-my-gmail-to-set-up-new-accounts/830001/13 "2019-02-22T16:16:24Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > For certain definitions of [secure.](https://techcrunch.com/2018/09/27/yes-facebook-is-using-your-2fa-phone-number-to-target-you-with-ads/) Maybe just change up your password regularly for a while to make your email address less palatable if someone’s being nefarious. I use an Authenticator app instead of a phone number. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2019, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-is-using-my-gmail-to-set-up-new-accounts/830001/14 "2019-02-22T16:31:36Z")
> [@Wolf333](#): > > I use an Authenticator app instead of a phone number. Yes, the Google or LastPass Authenticator apps are great things! ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2019, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-is-using-my-gmail-to-set-up-new-accounts/830001/15 "2019-02-22T22:32:58Z")
I have about [three dozen of these gmail alter egos](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=820087), and counting. This shit happens to me all the time. From the link: > [@](#): > > I have a gmail address, and it’s (first initial)(last name)@gmail.com. If my name really was Rufus T. Firefly, my gmail address would be [rfirefly@gmail.com](mailto:rfirefly@gmail.com). > > Using the pretense that my email address really is [rfirefly@gmail.com](mailto:rfirefly@gmail.com), here’s what I’ve gotten in the past couple of weeks: > > February 10: I get a [classmates.com](http://classmates.com) email for Richard Firefly, New Hyde Park Memorial High School Class of 1969. > February 12: I get an email from Dropbox in a French-speaking country (“Bonjour Firefly, Pour finaliser votre inscription, nous n’avons plus qu’à valider l’adresse e-mail de votre compte.”) > February 16: I get an email for Rebecca Firefly, whose Wave account is \>60 days past due in the amount of $97.75, and faces having her Wave services disconnected. > February 18: no name given, but their balloon order is ready for pickup at the Party City in Monaca, PA. > February 24: Ronald Firefly received a replacement for a product he’d ordered, and the seller would like feedback. > February 24: Rhonda Firefly has an appointment at Heatherfield on 02/24/2017 12:00 PM Eastern Time. > Today: Another balloon order ready for pickup at Party City in Monaca, PA. > > Altogether, in the past few years, I’ve received email from over two dozen people with my last name and first initial. I’ve received apartment leases, credit card information, detailed job interview itineraries, hotel and rental car and moving truck reservations, information about conferences they’re attending. For some, I get a single email, and never hear about them again, and some have become regulars: Ruth Firefly signed up to attend the National Fire Protection Association conventions in both 2015 and 2016, for instance, and I have the emails to prove it. ---
**Author:** ![arseNal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@arseNal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/arseNal)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2019, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-is-using-my-gmail-to-set-up-new-accounts/830001/16 "2019-02-22T23:40:18Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > For certain definitions of [secure.](https://techcrunch.com/2018/09/27/yes-facebook-is-using-your-2fa-phone-number-to-target-you-with-ads/) Maybe just change up your password regularly for a while to make your email address less palatable if someone’s being nefarious. This article isn’t saying that two-factor is not secure somehow. It’s just saying that when you set up two-factor for your Facebook account, they would ask you for your phone number (and apparently they don’t require it anymore), and then Facebook being Facebook, apparently used that number for data mining/ad purposes. It has nothing to do with the security of two-factor itself, let alone two-factor on your gmail account, which is what the comment you’re replying to is referring to. ---
**Author:** ![PoppaSan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/poppasan/32/189_2.png) [@PoppaSan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoppaSan)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2019, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-is-using-my-gmail-to-set-up-new-accounts/830001/17 "2019-02-24T01:04:33Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > I have about [three dozen of these gmail alter egos](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=820087), and counting. This shit happens to me all the time. > > From the link: My aol email in my real name has the same \<1st init\>\ @ aol. I get quite a few daily guesses at my first name.