My email doppelganger isn't famous, but when people (especially lawyers it seems) drop the dot au from his Hotmail account, I tell them and forward it to my Australian friend.
I've witnessed his purchase of a home, the death of his father, and this subscription to ABC.
My daughter has an email doppelganger in Texas. I'm not sure how diligent she is, but we found out the connection due to university applications gone awry.
gmail is tied into devices and all types of stuff, including YouTube and more. This is by design by Alphabet (Google). He would need to delete the whole thing and move to a new account with Google.
Omg, I totally caused a kerfuffle at a lunch date with a bunch of seniors, probably 60's ish age, when someone accidentally added my email to their list. 🤣😂😂🤣😂🤣
So many redundant questions and I just kept poking the bear 😂🤣☠️
So, there's a guy out there with the same first/last name as me, who believes [email protected] is _his_ email address.
I've gotten emails about online orders, medical tests / appt, car recalls, business contracts, and invitations to family gatherings. It's been like 15 years now.
I have this, too! It started during COVID when I got a confirmation for vaccination appointment on the other side of Canada. I found her on Fbook and got her to her appointment, but still get emails regarding a court case she’s in, other medical appts, travel confirmations. . . It doesn’t stop.
I have the same problem with I believe about 5 people all over the world...
I stopped spending effort in it. But I am still worried about these emails from the us military (about his retirement)
Ditto for me for an Irish delivery company owner with the same name who uses his personal email for business purposes. I've received contracts, info on vehicle repairs and new vehicle purchases, meeting notes, leasing agreements, insurance policy details. All kinds of private business related stuff.
sigh. this happens to me, too. i've gotten more updates about this woman's acura dealership oil changes and her dog food purchase receipts than i know what to do with because she won't stop using my email. it's definitely been informative re: what companies have reliable unsubscribes...
Yeah, I have a whole "dossier" on this guy. I actually got his ph # and texted him about this. He responded with something like "I see," then blocked me.
Ooh, I have one of these -- except she's been using my phone number for 8 years. I get all kinds of calls on her behalf, usually from lawyers and debt collectors. She has also used my number for a rewards account at Maurices (the clothing store), so whenever I shop there, they call me "Nicole."
Same, I’ve had a couple of nice exchanges with her therapist, a few with her kids’ schools, and my favorite, a children’s safety program re: her understanding of what her email address is. Once I got to actually talk to her since her work email was cc’d. And yet, years later, we’re still doing this.
I get emails for myfirstname.mylastname @ gmail intended for my namesakes in Scotland, England, South Africa, and Australia. Usually I just delete them, but sometimes it looks important and I respond to the sender. Little did I know, when I snagged that address in 2004, how many others of me exist.
My GMail address is just my last name (less than 10 characters), and I'm surprised (though not shocked) that in all that time I've only ever gotten a handful of misdirected mails... D:
IKEA Singapore posted my domain in their kids newsletter "Spot The Difference" quiz 10+ times over the years, and I kept fwd-ing the entries, eventually I asked them for some t-shirts and they sent them. My point is you should send this guy an IKEA shirt
I get some Irish barrister with my first and last name’s email constantly. I’m not even sure he’s aware his emails are forwarded from me, as he replies all with what I can only imagine is confidential information and never thanks me.
I get emails of same name persos's email ID, but without the dot in between my first and last name.. all confidential mails, income tax communications etc.
have told her, i have been receiving her emails. don't think she was much concerned.
Meanwhile, I just get random spam from other people named Sarah with my last initial because they make typos in their email addresses all the damn time. Sarahs in four different countries so far have used my email for things.
yeah there are a lot of people with the same name as me in the world, and a lot of them prefer using my email address to register for things than their own. I get email from all round the world
I just this second got an email recovery alert thing saying that Sarah Vickers will lose her account if she doesn't log in. No idea who she is. Hope she didn't need that account.
My scenario is someone gives the same gmail address as mine to various friends/relatives - mine has full stops separating the words, hers doesn’t - and so I get random emails from US Beaty parlours etc.
Pretty sure she’s a real person but no idea how to contact her.
I thought it would be great having an email that was easy to spell and remember but it turns out that every time a Sarah in the world gets tipsy or is kind of dumb they end up just thinking my email is theirs 😭
I have a pretty generic gmail and I get a LOT of messages for other people. Susan Brent has been using my gmail for years. And some guy signed up for StockX with it and has been buying shoes and I get all the alerts.
I try to reply to people and tell them they are emailing the wrong S Brent...
I am nowhere near famous in any way. And I get a fairly regular amount of email for my various doppelgangers around the world. I know what some of their professions. I know some of their personal tastes and financial activity. I know when some have traveled on business and/or pleasure.
I share a name with a notable geologist. We trade emails regularly, giving each other advice on how to respond to the various senders. I am now an expert in igneous rocks, and he is fast becoming a venture capitalist.
Are the final agreements that your investments pay back in tummy rubs or treats? I would bet a dog the size of a Great Dane requires a hefty amount of treats.
Definitely tummy rubs and biscuits would be the most that we’ve been able to withdraw from my VC work since I started 3.5 years ago….Barley Blue definitely likes the biscuits, though.
Some of the neediest business people are founders of startups. They need money, yes, but they need advisors and friends to open the doors of more investors and customers. And, founders seem very willing to bring in a neutral Danish guy whose only goal is to make the founder incredibly successful.
Admittedly, working in a VC world dominated by Trumpets and Muskets is fraught with many exchanges where I have to bite my tongue. However, there are a few examples of good-for-society VC-funded startups. Check out https://praxislabs.co, focused on DEI training, founded by Elise Smith & Heather Shen.
there is no good capitalists, for the very root of capitalisms existence is in exploiting the working class + the natural resources of this earth. nice try tho.
Perfect answer! I love a good debating partner who takes a position. There is definitely a snake pit full of soulless VC investors who would slit their own brothers’ throats for one more Euro or Dollar. My job is to Do Good while taking their money.
I don’t really think you’re getting it… a master who spares the rod is still a master. I’m sure Brian Thompson thought he was doing good for people too. Same goes for cops. The cognitive dissonance is really astounding. I will always champion for the lower working class.
We could go to work on that for you. There is a like-named person in SFO, who is, and I quote, "A leader in the field of product development of regenerative medicine, tissue engineering, and biotherapeutic delivery technologies." I am sure you could learn about more than just rocks from him.
Someone with the same name as me uses my gmail address to register for things and I have no idea what his actual email address is. He’s been doing it for years. I don’t know how he’s not noticed that he never receives any confirmation emails
He doesn't want the confirmation emails. I've had someone use my phone number for credit card fraud for 20 years. I've tried every (legal) want of dealing with this but to no avail. Doubtless he knows exactly what he's doing
everyone with the same name as me does that, and mine is an extremely common name. I get a ton of registrations, lost logins, attempts to use my address as a recovery email, etc, every day from all over the world
Someone with my first initial and last name thinks my email is his, and every once in a while, I get strange messages like, "Thanks for applying for an E-Visa! Unfortunately, you didn't succeed."
This happened to me for years, most recently I got emails from their Drs office & pet boarding. I contacted both places to let them know but nothing changed. I finally reset their pet boarding login and changed all the personal info including dog name on file to msgs asking them to use a diff email
I don't think people realize how dangerous it is. Apparently I was engaged and bought a house with someone. Oh and I go to the dentist in another state. I was sent information where I could have stolen information so fast and the person would be clueless.
Definitely! I was able to see this person's mailing address, multiple phone numbers, family member names and could have easily accessed private health information. While trying to find social media accounts to reach them I found out workplaces and schools
I have FirstnameLastname at gmail and an (I’m guessing elderly) relative of someone with the same Firstname Lastname as me keeps trying to send other me birthday/Christmas messages, and I keep having to explain that I’m not the other me.
someone (perhaps multiple someones) submit my Gmail address on forms as if it were their own. I change the password on each of those accounts and then have the disabled. (these people are largely in AU and NZ where it seems that double opt-in is not so much a thing).
for me, a lot of them are in India, where verifying your email has clearly never ever been a thing. I can't tell you how many people have tried using my address at this point. It's become normal
it's pretty wild. I guess we can all just claim the email addresses we want. I wonder if I can go back in time like this? I used to be [email protected]
I get all the shopping emails from someone in England with the same Gmail address. I tried to contact them, but never heard back. Amazing security, Google. 😑
My Instagram handle is my initials and last name, which happens to be the stage name of DJ Klever. I used to get tagged in photos with Yelawolf and Travis Barker from venues and fans.
I have got my full name at gmail and I get a ton of emails ment for people who I share a name with, and I'm not even famous.
We are talking anything ranging from invitations for parties, funerals, detailed mortgage related stuff etc. So yeah I wouldn't be surprised it is a significant burden to him
If anything, I feel that this will just encourage people to send him messages of support. Hang in there, other (and not any less significant or important) Hank Green.
I started reading Brandon Sanderson because I had a friend with the same name who would get fan emails for the author, and they made the books sound interesting.
I met a friend with a name similar to mine because my local library was sending her my info. She hunted me down on social media. She lives on the NW and I live in the SE. What a hoot it has been getting to know her! She is a 70+ yr old Scottish lady married to a Japanese man for decades.
I get emails every day for people who aren't me, but 96% of them are people just using my email as a throwaway, like someone might do John Smith @ just to fill in the field
When I was a student at OU there was a Psychologist/Professor that shared my first and last name with only a single-letter spelling difference. I used to get emails intended for him all the time and I'd both forward them on and also reply to the sender to let them know about the error.
He worked both teaching classes and in the mental health clinic so sometimes the emails were about assignments and other times they were... far more personal. I asked IT/admin numerous times to change my email to something less similar but was never able to get it changed.
I'm in exactly the same position as this individual for my name. In your case, I can totally understand given your fame, but it's incredible how often people try to use my email when signing up to an account when it's not theirs. I try to reply to any important ones to let them know, but it's a lot😭
As a guy with a very common Gmail address, how did he go about finding the correct email address to fwd to? I always wanted to get some emails into the right hands.
I used to forward stuff for an MD with my name who apparently doesn't know her email address. I would receive xrays and other confidential info. I once contacted her about this and she said that if I ever email her again she'd consider it harassment. I still get them now and then.
I had a similar problem, lady in Florida has my email but at MSN instead of Gmail, but several of her friends put the wrong email in their contacts 😅 got a lot of invites to play Mahjong lol
I will say, towards the beginning of the pandemic I got a Zoom invite for 'wine and chatting' and I was SO tempted to join and give them a crash course in how to change contact info 😂😂 since the emails were always 'sent from my iPhone'
I like to imagine this turns out line that story of the mistaken Thanksgiving invite that Reddit floats around every year, but instead you show up and fix everyone's printers before disappearing into the aether for another year.
For a number of years, I didn't know about the MSN thing, so I would reply like "hey this isn't going to the right person I think you need to double check the email" but they would never respond to me 😭 but finally someone told her and now I just forward stuff on to her 😅
Hello, Im Omer from Gaza.🇵🇸
My life and dreams have been destroyed by the war. I lost my home and source of income, and my family and I live under immense psychological pressure.
I ask for your support and solidarity to help us build a new life free from fear and suffering.🙏🏻
Every couple of years, I get a string of emails intended for someone with a similar name to me who is clearly confused about their email address. I've seen it all - job interviews, rental applications, travel itineraries, and car hire paperwork. Somehow they keep making the same mistake.
A friend of mine from grad school is named Hank Green... not sure if he's the person in question. He's a professor at Indiana University. You should have him on your show, he does some really interesting research on HIV/AIDS and social networking!
Wait, you don’t even own your own name at gmail? weird. i own my name plus a variation with my middle initial i use that one for random things i sign up for 🥲
I knew someone with an "OG" Gmail address that people use as a throwaway in site registrations and orders they don't want to be affiliated with.
Best thing I ever heard was that someone bought a bunch of cam-site tokens, so she made it rain.
I do the same thing for a well know person in the film industry - they have the same name but I beat them to the gmail address by a couple of years. I get some interesting emails and don't really mind forwarding them.
Someone in NZ has taken on an address similar to my gmail address. I tried to chat with her about it to find out what she wanted to do. She told me off, said I should "f off/leave her alone/etc." I delete her emails now. I can tell you that she's been sued a few times for being a jerk.
Even tho I joined gmail as a beta test person I was too late for my full name so had to shorten it. then explain to everyone why they must not 'correct' it and still some smart aleck tries to send [always official stuff] to that poor person in the USA.
Once I got added to a scam email where they apparently added like 100 people with very similar emails all at the same time as each other. People started making friends in the replies lol
I get Douglas Coventry's medical insurance data, all of Di Coventry's shopping receipts and am constantly being petitioned by Donald Coventry's evangelical church.
I'm also inundated with emails from Congresswoman Mary Miller as she seeks to make solar panels illegal in Illinois.
Another Hank Green? There is only one way to handle such a situation: Fight to the death. Whoever decapitates the other one first will gain his power. There can be only one.
There’s a nice elderly irish lady who has my email but with an extra ‘g’ that people leave out, I’ve been forwarding things to her for about 15 years at this point
I found a short story at an online fiction site in which the villain (an evil psychiatrist) had my name. I tried to contact the author, but never heard back. A few months later I tried to find it again but it had disappeared. Shame, as I quite enjoyed it.
i reply to the girl guides emails i get for my name twin in australia - i don't know her email address but the least i can do is let the ppl who are emailing me they're emailing the wrong hemisphere
What if people who don't have inner monologues (me too) don't because we would notice the difference in the voice of self when its different parts of our brain? Sorry the video had 10k comments and I really wanted to ask you this.
I have always had an "inner monologue" in words and have difficulty picturing things in my mind. The "voice" I hear in my head as my thoughts is just my voice. It doesn't change depending on what I am thinking about. Directions, self reflections, math problems, it's all just me. Hope this helps.
I absolutely agree. Everyone's different, and I would wager that everyone experiences the self in their own unique way. This is just my personal anecdote.
I get email for some guy who has the same address as me but with a period in the middle that for some reason google often ignores. I forward him important ones and use others for my own amusement. Like leaving disastrous hotel reviews in his name. So maybe there's an upside for your guy too?
The frustration level when this does not work is epic. I often feel as I imagine a fly must feel, trapped inside at a window.. this time, this time, this time...
I got something in the actual mail meant for someone else who shares my name. An invitation to an event.
I told him about it on social media but he didn't respond.
Yadayadayada, the host was a great guy and the canapes were delightful.
I don't actually know the address for the other guy with my name, but I do reply when his family erroneously emails me since I have the superior gmail address. They don't reply back though. 🥲
I have my first and last name at gmail, but some other guy with the same name saw it was taken, and just added a letter so now I get all kinds of confidential stuff including business invoices, real estate stuff, and legal stuff and I can't help but think that he should pick a better email.
I do to and I get email constantly for people who've put my address into websites as their usernames etc, but also have had so much confidential stuff. once someone put my address out there to send job applications to, which was a lot
At some point a lawyer included both him and his wife on some communication, and I was able to get the other guy's email from her. I still get a bunch of confidential stuff, but at least now I can just forward it.
Wanted to see if the problem was with a website with false information on where to send emails and came across this site: https://starcontactdetails.com/hank-marvin/
And I don't know what's funnier, the "NA" after "siblings" or that your address is listed as just your name and then "Birmingham, Alabama"
A friend shared a name with another guy who also was in high tech. They stated talking and ended up founding a start-up doing computer drug research together. Think about every call into the company being met with ‘which one’?
There's a guy in England with my name (Tom Buchanan), who manages to sort through all the Tom Buchanan gmail he gets and forward them to what he hopes is the right address. I'm sure there's a lot of them, and I'm always grateful. I have no idea what he does with the ones that ask about Daisy.
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I've witnessed his purchase of a home, the death of his father, and this subscription to ABC.
Far too much work. I get a dozen each week 😅
Also, now I know how to get a hold of you - by emailing your unpaid secretary.
So many redundant questions and I just kept poking the bear 😂🤣☠️
Sometimes you have to make your own fun.
I've gotten emails about online orders, medical tests / appt, car recalls, business contracts, and invitations to family gatherings. It's been like 15 years now.
I used to kindly tell the sender to remind the customer this isn't their address, but gave up after the first few hundred
I stopped spending effort in it. But I am still worried about these emails from the us military (about his retirement)
But also, STOP USING MY EMAIL ADDRESS to sign up for shit, Other Alisons! 😂
On the bright side, if I ever need to go underground and assume an identity, I guess it's good to have one on tap.
have told her, i have been receiving her emails. don't think she was much concerned.
Pretty sure she’s a real person but no idea how to contact her.
I try to reply to people and tell them they are emailing the wrong S Brent...
For decades I have been using those addresses to fill in fields when I dont care to give a real address.
We are talking anything ranging from invitations for parties, funerals, detailed mortgage related stuff etc. So yeah I wouldn't be surprised it is a significant burden to him
would you like to join Hankgreen Dot Com in the illustrious club of Hank Greens who have bequeathed their domains to https://hankgreen.bsky.social?
thanks bye
Nothing says “I appreciate you” like a Christmas quiche.
My life and dreams have been destroyed by the war. I lost my home and source of income, and my family and I live under immense psychological pressure.
I ask for your support and solidarity to help us build a new life free from fear and suffering.🙏🏻
https://gofund.me/38da3c3f
Best thing I ever heard was that someone bought a bunch of cam-site tokens, so she made it rain.
I get Douglas Coventry's medical insurance data, all of Di Coventry's shopping receipts and am constantly being petitioned by Donald Coventry's evangelical church.
I'm also inundated with emails from Congresswoman Mary Miller as she seeks to make solar panels illegal in Illinois.
(Of course you kept a few characters in the address out of your post! Or don't I need this kind of disclaimer on this site?)
I hope they have a good mail rule to automate a lot.
Or am I 25 years out of date again?
(I have been using email professionally since 1997, things have changed somewhat since then. )
I told him about it on social media but he didn't respond.
Yadayadayada, the host was a great guy and the canapes were delightful.
https://starcontactdetails.com/hank-marvin/
And I don't know what's funnier, the "NA" after "siblings" or that your address is listed as just your name and then "Birmingham, Alabama"