Skip to content

Comment on Don't verify email addresses by sending spam to them

Comments

I have a Gmail address in the format of x.surname@gmail.com, which is obviously potentially applicable to tens of thousands of people.

The amount of misdirected mail I get is astounding. I literally just got a delivery updaye for hair removal cream, with the option to sign the unknowing recipient up to a paid for tracking subscription service.

The problem isn't just making sure the address is valid.

You need to ensure you're sending communications to the correct person.

You seem to be getting unsolicited commercial email, a.k.a. spam, and could possibly initiate legal action against the sender. If you did so, it would cause the entire industry to stop using email verification, and probably switch to phone number until they get sued for the exact same thing with phone numbers.

I still have a gmail address that looks in no way like a name, and that's not stopping me from receiving some really weird misdirected email. Often my random collection of characters with some dots in between (apparently Gmail ignores dots in your name).

AboutSource Built by g1lg1l

Hackerly is an independent reader for Hacker News, built on the public HN API. Not affiliated with Y Combinator.