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Dots don't matter in Gmail addresses

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Re: Dots don't matter in Gmail addresses

#21

Post by AdmiralAsshat »

Santosh83 wrote: post #6

I have been getting financial emails from several people for many years at my GMail ID. They apparently have given my address but without the dot. But what mystifies me is how these people keep going for years without ever realising they aren't getting account transaction emails (from their banks), notifications of stock trades, even OTP emails etc. How is it possible for people to use these services for years withou…

I've encountered the same problem. One day I'm going to stop being polite and cancel the Hotel Reservations, Conference Invites, and other shit that this guy keeps signing up for using my email address. Maybe that will get him to finally pay attention.

Re: Dots don't matter in Gmail addresses

#22

Post by teddyh »

roel_v wrote: post #15
joncrane wrote: post #4

What about + signs? That's the trick I use.

That's part of the RFC email address spec. Ignoring .'s isn't, AFAIR.

Nope, the + trick is not standardized. The RFCs only specify that everything before the @ character is specific to the recipient system and Should Not Be Messed With; even case-folding that part of an e-mail address is a no-no, since the recipient system might distinguish case, and the sender has no way of knowing.

The + trick arose later, as a feature of certain mail recipient programs like Sendmail and Postfix, and most of these programs allow you to change from + to any character you like.

Re: Dots don't matter in Gmail addresses

#23

Post by Ciantic »

AltruisticGapHN wrote: post #18

I still get occasional emails for `firstnamelastname@gmail.com` while I registered `firstname.lastname@gmail.com` Which seems to contradict what the article says, since the article suggests anyone who registered my `firstnamelastname@gmail.com` would own mine. Or is the article suggesting actually nobody ever registered `firstnamelastname@gmail.com` and some idiots just think "oh i need to write to firstname lastname…

Yes, "nobody ever registered `firstnamelastname@gmail.com". You own it.

I keep getting email without dots because I too have common name someone mistakenly sends to.

Re: Dots don't matter in Gmail addresses

#25

Post by brmgb »

AltruisticGapHN wrote: post #18

I still get occasional emails for `firstnamelastname@gmail.com` while I registered `firstname.lastname@gmail.com` Which seems to contradict what the article says, since the article suggests anyone who registered my `firstnamelastname@gmail.com` would own mine. Or is the article suggesting actually nobody ever registered `firstnamelastname@gmail.com` and some idiots just think "oh i need to write to firstname lastname…

> Which seems to contradict what the article says, since the article suggests anyone who registered my `firstnamelastname@gmail.com` would own mine.

It doesn't. firstnamelastname@gmail.com is also your address. Nobody could have registred it.

> Or is the article suggesting actually nobody ever registered `firstnamelastname@gmail.com` and some idiots just think "oh i need to write to firstname lastname" (one of many who share my firstname/lastname in French) and they just compose that email address? I don't get it.

Yes, that's what is happening. If you get unintended emails, their intended destination is yet another address.

Re: Dots don't matter in Gmail addresses

#27

Post by dhritzkiv »

chrisgd wrote: post #3

My email is firstlast I use first.last for subscriptions I am unsure I want to keep. I can then filter out based on to address and also use diff combinations when I already know I don’t want them contacting me (firs.tlast) for example

If you use the + character (e.g. `firstlast+subscriptions`) it'll still arrive to your `firstlast` inbox, but will allow you to filter it more meaningfully.

Re: Dots don't matter in Gmail addresses

#28

Post by wycy »

Santosh83 wrote: post #6

I have been getting financial emails from several people for many years at my GMail ID. They apparently have given my address but without the dot. But what mystifies me is how these people keep going for years without ever realising they aren't getting account transaction emails (from their banks), notifications of stock trades, even OTP emails etc. How is it possible for people to use these services for years withou…

Reset their account passwords.

Re: Dots don't matter in Gmail addresses

#29

Post by jumhyn »

dhritzkiv wrote: post #27
chrisgd wrote: post #3

My email is firstlast I use first.last for subscriptions I am unsure I want to keep. I can then filter out based on to address and also use diff combinations when I already know I don’t want them contacting me (firs.tlast) for example

If you use the + character (e.g. `firstlast+subscriptions`) it'll still arrive to your `firstlast` inbox, but will allow you to filter it more meaningfully.

I've been using this trick for a while (usually 'firstlast+per_service_identifier') and I've encountered more than a few systems which erroneously claim that any email address containing a '+' is invalid.

Re: Dots don't matter in Gmail addresses

#30

Post by newsbinator »

ghastmaster wrote: post #5

This is indeed the case. I have checked it myself. The link below shows how this can be used maliciously. https://jameshfisher.com/2018/04/07/the-dots-do-matter-how-t... I do not know if this has been mitigated.

OP of that post has an ad at the bottom for their product that I actually found compelling.

It's a screencast tool- but instead of putting a video of your face in the corner, it overlays/ghosts your face on top of the full screen you're sharing.

Now sure how well it would work in practice. Maybe it's too distracting.

But it looks like a neat thing to try.

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