You probably can’t.
This is a frustrating problem. I run into it regularly with my Ask Leo! and Google email address(es).
The problem is simple. When somebody gives you their email address as contact information, and they enter the wrong email address, how do you contact them to tell them so?
The wrong email address
Websites often require entering your email twice to prevent typos because errors in email addresses are common. Mistyped emails lead to messages going to the wrong people or bouncing back. If you receive misdirected emails, you can try to notify the sender, but often the issue resolves only when the sender realizes their mistake.
Email going nowhere
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Someone’s Sending from My Email Address! How Do I Stop Them?
Email spoofing is rampant. Spammers often send email that looks like it came from you, and there's little that you can do about it.People type their email address incorrectly all the time. It’s just a simple typo. Sometimes people intentionally enter an incorrect email address because they have to fill in the form, or they don’t have an email account or don’t understand how email works. My sense is it’s often kids in that last bucket.
This is frustrating particularly if the emails contain important information or something they’ve asked for.
For example, when someone sends me a question and enters their email wrong, my response to their question will either go to:
- The wrong person (which is I think very similar to what you’re experiencing)
- The wrong service
- The wrong country
- No one — it just bounces
- Wherever — it’s never seen or heard from again
When that happens, I have no way of contacting them.
This is why so many websites ask you to type your email address in twice (which can be frustrating). I choose not to do that for Ask Leo! but every site is different.
Do this
If you can find additional information that identifies that person, fantastic. Contact them and let them know.
If the information is coming from what looks to be a reputable company, maybe let them know the email address they have on record for one of their customers is incorrect.
But that’s really about it. You’ve done everything you can. You can’t do anything with it until:
- They contact you with the correct information, or
- You find some piece of additional contact information either for the company or the individual.
Understand that getting the wrong email is very common, and you don’t need to be concerned about it. Emails like this happen. These situations eventually resolve as people fail to get the communications they’re expecting and take action.
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