[d3VwsX]

I have a somewhat common [e-mail] and others with the same name use it pretty often. Surprisingly often it seems as if sites allow accounts to exist without email confirmation. I estimate at least 50% of the accounts out there that use my gmail is actually not me, and I like the idea of anyone trying to make sense of that data, if they can even guess that I am the Firstname Lastname that the address belongs to.

[quaddo]

I’m in a similar situation and hadn’t thought of it that way. My take on the email I receive is that they fall into one of these categories: a) genuinely intended for me (and not spam), b) spam, c) genuinely intended case of mistaken address (they forgot to include another character), d) someone using mine as their throwaway (site sending verification email), and e) someone using mine as their throwaway (no verification process, ergo not altogether different from spam).

[112233]

Where I am, it is official government agencies that seem to not verify email (and send me sensitive documents meant for others with the same name — a chore to call and ask them to correct their stuff regularly, sigh)

Any comercial sites - dating, gambling etc. end with verification attempts