The dots do matter: how to scam a Gmail user
jameshfisher.com
The dots do matter: how to scam a Gmail user
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Re: The dots do matter: how to scam a Gmail user
#2netflix security suck for not doing email confirmation and the ONLY email to be sent to the updated address being a billing one.
and no, it should never "know about" the dot feature in gmail. that is working as intended all around. it's simply that netflix put user bounce rate metric in front of protecting users from scam. plain and simple.
Re: The dots do matter: how to scam a Gmail user
#3Totally disagree with the conclusion. This is Netflix's issue for not validating the email account. Not sure if Uber has changed this since then, but back in the day I used to get the full ride details and receipts from someone else who mistyped their email.
If you are sending private transactional emails you need to verify accounts first.
Re: The dots do matter: how to scam a Gmail user
#4I really wish that I could tell google to bounce all the emails that don’t match my “dot pattern”
I’m now in complete control of someone else’s commercial business hvac account because of precisely this problem. And the worse part is that I don’t know the correct email to get ahold of this person. They’ve set up library appointments, I received a receipt for a down payment on a lake house, basically most of this persons recent attempt to start a commercial business has been emailed to me.
I don’t want this email google. Please give us the option to make it stop.
Re: The dots do matter: how to scam a Gmail user
#5One interesting thing to note, for GSuite accounts, the dots do matter. first.last@company.com is not the same account as firstlast@company.com.
Re: The dots do matter: how to scam a Gmail user
#6> But firstly, no one wants this infinite set of email addresses. Gmail already provides this in the better form of plus labelling.
What is the difference between dots and pluses? They both have the same flaw: to Netflix they will both be distinct addresses.
Re: The dots do matter: how to scam a Gmail user
#7Totally disagree with the conclusion. This is Netflix's issue for not validating the email account. Not sure if Uber has changed this since then, but back in the day I used to get the full ride details and receipts from someone else who mistyped their email. If you are sending private transactional emails you need to verify accounts first.
PayPal and eBay also don't validate email, not even before attaching a bank account or making a purchase.
Re: The dots do matter: how to scam a Gmail user
#8I really wish that I could tell google to bounce all the emails that don’t match my “dot pattern” I’m now in complete control of someone else’s commercial business hvac account because of precisely this problem. And the worse part is that I don’t know the correct email to get ahold of this person. They’ve set up library appointments, I received a receipt for a down payment on a lake house, basically most of this pers…
Just create a filter to send everything that doesn’t match your dot pattern to the trash. I have a relatively common first name / last name gmail account and it gets out of control sometimes.
Re: The dots do matter: how to scam a Gmail user
#9I really wish that I could tell google to bounce all the emails that don’t match my “dot pattern” I’m now in complete control of someone else’s commercial business hvac account because of precisely this problem. And the worse part is that I don’t know the correct email to get ahold of this person. They’ve set up library appointments, I received a receipt for a down payment on a lake house, basically most of this pers…
Do you also, by chance, have a short Gmail address? I've also definitely gotten signups from other individuals mistyping their address on my six letter account.
My comedy ownership of someone else's identity is a Staples account. Presumably someone in New York with a similar name had a store person look up their Staples account, which was actually my Staples account, and associate their business name with it. Their business name now appears on mailings I get from Staples and sometimes I get sample pens and the like branded with their business name.
Re: The dots do matter: how to scam a Gmail user
#10This is exactly why you need to normalize email addresses. The people who wrote the email RFCs just plain got it wrong, so it’s up to every SaaS site to do this so that they aren’t putting their users at risk. If someone is using an email with that’s the same as someone else’s except for the capitalization, it should be on them to get a new email address.