[Declanomous]

What's even more annoying is that some sites ask for verification, but then proceed to email you stuff even if you don't click verify. Someone in Australia created an Apple ID using my email. I ignored the verification, but then I got a bunch of purchase receipts from them later.

What I really wish for is a link in emails that say "I am not the intended recipient of this letter." Normal mail works like that. You can ask the United States Postal Service to only deliver mail that has your name on it, and if you send back mail with someone else's name they will add that person's name to a database that says the mail is undeliverable.

I don't want to mark these organizations as spam, but that's basically what they are to me. I've started using the password reset to log in and change the email preferences so I don't get these emails anymore.

[codeka]

I had the same problem with someone signing up for an Apple ID with my email address.

I even tried calling Apple to get them to cancel the account, but they wouldn't let me because I couldn't answer any of the security questions on the account!

The guy on the phone acknowledged that of course I can't answer them, because I didn't create them, bit their policy forbids them from doing anything without the security questions...

[Declanomous]

Man, now I'm wondering if this is some sort of violation of the CAN-SPAM act. My blood pressure goes up a little every time I get one of these emails and it doesn't have a way to unsubscribe if you aren't the legitimate recipient. Considering the companies that spam me the most with this irrelevant crap are Apple and Wal-Mart, I would feel 0% bad if they lost money over this practice.

Quick Edit: I just read the Wikipedia page, and individuals cannot bring suit against spammers (using CAN-SPAM in any case). Which is a shame really, because spam is really really annoying.

[biot]

Instagram does this. They let anybody sign up for an account using any email address, and the account is immediately live. While they send a verification email, you don't have to click on it to still use the account. And most likely if you hadn't signed up for the service you'd think it's a phishing attempt and ignore it anyways.

I found this out the hard way when someone else had created an account under my email address and because some of my friends had uploaded their address book, my friends were following this stranger, perhaps thinking it was me. When I eventually did choose to sign up, I had to jump through a bunch of hoops just to be able to use my own email address.

[unabridged]

You better watch out, that's probably a felony depending on where you live.

[Declanomous]

I suppose there may be some sort of anti-hacking law that could be twisted to fit this case, and if the cops came to my door over it I'd definitely hire a lawyer before I said anything. I somehow doubt if I'd be charged with a felony for accessing an account that is registered under my name and email address and turning off email notifications, especially since I've tried everything else I could think of to stem the tide, including emailing support, etc.

Plus, this individual who keeps signing me up lives in Australia. I cannot imagine our system is so dysfunctional that both the United States and Australia would agree that a) this is a criminal offense, and that b) it would be worth going through the effort of extraditing me to face justice.

I mean, I haven't even received another password reset request from those websites I logged in to fix that issue, so I half imagine that person is using my email address as a plausible address for email they don't care about.

I understand what you mean, but I don't think I'm going to have to spend the rest of my life looking over my shoulder. The few personal emails I've gotten with financial details (gym membership bills, etc) I've responded letting them know about the mix-up and they've been more than happy to fix the issue. Feel free to say I told you so when I end up in a jail full of kangaroos though.