Re: Someone thinks their email address is mine

stewdaviesuk · ‎24-04-2020

Hi, just before Christmas I got emails from Sky about my new installation and subsequent ones containing personal information. The thing being they were not for me. I contacted Sky and we figured out the person had given my email address and not their own. They were not interested in telling the person of the error assuming they would realise and call sky. I contacted BT and asked if anyone could have my email and we concluded this persons email was very close to mine but would not give details. Sky removed my email so I would not be bothered but it seems the person still has not recognised the error and must be trying to login to my bt email eventually locking me out, I reset it but it keeps happening, what can i do?

licquorice · ‎25-04-2020

The only thing you can do is to reply to the sender that you are not the intended recipient of the mail and ask them to remove your address from their records.

Unfortunately, they probably won't and you will continue to receive erroneous mails.

I have lost count of the number of times I have told Mercedes that I am not their customer but I still get emails despite promises they have removed my address from their records

stewdaviesuk · ‎25-04-2020

I have done that but I think this person uses webmail and thinks my email address is theirs so they attempt numerous logins that fail then I am locked out also. The solution maybe for BT to write to them in an old school paper letter and tell them, though I have been told BT would contact them I feel that nothing gas changed.

gg30340 · ‎25-04-2020

The person can not be using your email address. It may be similar to yours and it may have been given out and recorded incorrectly but at no point could the person actually use your email address/account.

If they were trying to use it they would not be able to log onto the email account unless they have the same password as you. They would get the unable to log on check you password message, which would ultimately lead them to try and change it.

They would not be able to change it and they would have to contact Customer Service to change it for them, at which point they would not be able to answer the security questions. Investigation would reveal that the email account is not part of their BT Broadband account and that should stop the matter going any further.

There are numerous posts on the thread about email accounts being locked because of too many attempts to log on. It could be because of what you have said or it could be just a coincidence particularly if you are not receiving emails from numerous sources because I'm sure if the person was handing out your email address believing it to be his/hers it would be to more than one company or person.

stewdaviesuk · ‎25-04-2020

Sorry I may not have made myself clear. They are not using my email address theirs is I think one character different from what BT told me. What they are doing is trying to login to my email address because they have not realised theirs is spelt slightly different and when they give out their email to others they give out mine. After they try and login to my email many times It locks them and me out. I do not know what to do about this.

licquorice · ‎25-04-2020

Unfortunately, there is nothing you can do. It may not even be the person you think it is entering the wrong address and even if it was, how can you prevent them doing it?

Playing devils advocate, it could even be somebody you know deliberately causing you problems.

Andy_N · ‎25-04-2020

@stewdaviesukwrote:
Sorry I may not have made myself clear. They are not using my email address theirs is I think one character different from what BT told me. What they are doing is trying to login to my email address because they have not realised theirs is spelt slightly different and when they give out their email to others they give out mine. After they try and login to my email many times It locks them and me out. I do not know what to do about this.

Hi.

This case should be straightforward to sort out, but might take a few weeks. BT simply needs to follow a process method to do it - and will need to contact Sky.

For example, the person who's trying to login is clearly failing - and probably can't work out why this is happening. They have probably contacted BT giving the wrong email address, however if they give their account number and address, BT can surely see what their email address should be. They could phone them, but preferably write to them.

Sky might need to be involved as well as they too have the person's address - as do you of course I presume.

So Sky need to write to them to correct the email address, BT should write to them to tell them the correct email address, and you too could write to them to say what's what.

Hopefully the person receiving all this information can then believe it all, rather than maybe think it doesn't apply to them. So each letter sent to them needs to be a concise explanation of what's happening, and not condescending or blaming in any way.

The main problem is getting all this organised ...

stewdaviesuk · ‎25-04-2020

Sky have stopped any email to my address but were not interested in contacting the person to tell them they need to supply another email address. BT have taken it onboard but I think its an elderly person who has this account and may not trust anything that tells them to change it if indeed thats what BT did.

stewdaviesuk · ‎25-04-2020

The email is my secondary one so I doubt its malicious as hardly anyone has it. I just think its this person as it all started soon after I got Sky emails.

Andy_N · ‎25-04-2020

@stewdaviesukwrote:
Sky have stopped any email to my address but were not interested in contacting the person to tell them they need to supply another email address. BT have taken it onboard but I think its an elderly person who has this account and may not trust anything that tells them to change it if indeed thats what BT did.

That's totally ridiculous and appalling from Sky and they need to be contacted again to help. It's their customer.

Hopefully BT can help out, but what I find a little strange is that this must have been a potentially new BT customer as well, otherwise this would have happened before they had Sky installed - because surely they would have been trying to get their emails for ages.

If you do have their address from the Sky correspondence, then I would personally be inclined to send them a very polite letter (the customer, not Sky ...)