Google sends me someone else's details.  - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: TheElectricChicken
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 23, 2015, 11:50:23 pm
content: Gmail started off long ago by sending me some email saying that "your email address someaddress@gmail.com has been created", even though I never. Since then, every time that person signs in it tells me their browser and location in the world. Like thisHi John,Your Google Account someone@gmail.com was just used to sign in from Chrome on Windows.John Citizensomeone@gmail.comWindowsThursday, July 2 2015 1:21 PM (Mountain Daylight Time)someplace, AB, Canada*ChromeLots like that, sometimes telling me it stopped a suspicious sign in from Germany and so on. Says at the bottom of the email that they take my security very seriously. I'm not convinced somehow. I wonder if the person in Canada ( or germany ) is getting regular updates about me courtesy of google's serious attitude to security.

author: Mechanical Menace
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 23, 2015, 11:59:02 pm
content: Change the password for the email address you're receiving those emails to immediately. Someone probably managed to gain access to that and use it to set up a gmail account. Oh and I know there's a good chance your email is also gmail...

author: TheElectricChicken
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 24, 2015, 12:09:00 am
content: Quote from: Mechanical Menace on August 23, 2015, 11:59:02 pmOh, I'm not as worried about my own online security as google seems to be. I often give out my ATM card and my PIN number so other people can withdraw money for me, saves me going into town. Lots of people I know look at the issue of security and say "Well people can't steal anything from me, because I don't HAVE anything !! " so it's really not an issue.I just think it's a bit amusing that they keep me all up to date about this person's movements and actions in the name of better security. Yes, I have gmail too. One day I should set up something better. Eventually.

author: Falcon69
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 24, 2015, 12:21:17 am
content: You need to get serious about it. Identity theft is big time.My roomate recently late last year?) was charged, arrested, and put in jail for 6 months until they sorted it all out. All charges was dropped and he was finally released. In the meantime, he lost a full semester of school, and had to do the previous one over again. They arrested him just 2 days before his final, which was about 60% of his grade for his classes.Anyway, it turned out that his x-girlfriend from several years okay got ahold of some of his credit stuff. Opening checking accounts, credit cards, etc. He didn't even know any of this was going on. So he was arrested for the fraud that SHE did using his name and information. Of course, she and her boyfriend are in jail now, but my roomate had hell trying to prove his innocence. Lucky, he was going to school at the time, and was able to prove that he was in classes during alot of the times the charges were happening. Other charges, he had to fight them and prove he didn't do them.Identity theft is serious. If people use your information, impersonating you....if You can't prove you didn't do it, you'll do jail time for what THEY did to you.

author: TheElectricChicken
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 24, 2015, 12:30:12 am
content: Ooooh, that's bad stuff. I'm lucky she's not my Girlfriend, HA! but yes, serious stuff really. I shouldn't ever use gmail or google. I don't use windows luckily. Did you see this about Windows 10 ? I assume it is the latest version. I need to set up an email server or something.Quotehttp://newtechnologies2015.blogspot.fi/2015/07/windows-10-marine-le-pen-denounced.html

author: Bob F.
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 24, 2015, 01:20:23 am
content: This is not a problem for the OP - this is a problem for the person who has set up his backup/disaster recovery email address incorrectly - probably a typo in one character of his email address.If the guy ever needs a password reset, the reset code will be sent to the same address so it would be nice to let google know there is a problem or the guy will be locked out of his email.

author: TMM
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 24, 2015, 01:26:38 am
content: Send an email to the someone@gmail.com address informing them that their backup address is set as yours. If they don't fix it within a reasonable amount of time then use gmail's password recovery service to reset their password via your email address and change it yourself.

author: TheElectricChicken
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 24, 2015, 01:33:47 am
content: Nope, Sorry Bob F., sorry TMM, no can do.It would violate a golden rule of anti-spam, anti-phishing, anti-Don't let that guy's ex-girlfriend find you, and that is,Never click on anything or respond to an email that you didn't ask for.All I can think of is to sit back and be bemused, maybe it is gmail tracking someone else and keeping me up to date on their movements and private details, or maybe it's just the latest thing in phishing for new email addresses to SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM!!!!!

author: Bob F.
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 24, 2015, 01:14:03 pm
content: It is easy enough to see if it came from gmail/google by looking at the email header, but your choice. Your general point is true of course.

author: Godzil
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 24, 2015, 02:29:33 pm
content: Quote from: TheElectricChicken on August 24, 2015, 12:30:12 amThat's the worst example you could have took. Apart from her idological view, she is only trying to gain some "popularity" by trying to be on the press, her claim are not something to be followed/trusted.

author: TheElectricChicken
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 24, 2015, 02:48:25 pm
content: QuoteThat's ok, no reason to trust her or the plumber next door, or every person you will meet today, or every I.T. professional, or all the kings horses and all the kings men, they could all be wrong about how crap windows is. Tell you what I'll track down that link to where GOD says windows is crap, will you believe it then or do you get paid too much ? I dunno.