Compounding a Bad (Email) Choice

[Foolmewunz]

Almost seven years ago, changing from a company I'd worked with for fifteen years (and had the same email address wherever I moved in the world), I opted to mimic the address structure of firstname.lastname@ companyname.com I have business contacts that date back forty years and my name is relatively unique. So it seemed logical as I could tell all my current contacts and coworkers "Same address just change the domain to @gmail.com".

And it worked, but less and less over the years. I also (stupidly) used the same address for consulting and for our coffee shop business. Typical dumbass move, not wanting to have to remember to check three to five email addresses.

Oh, and really (not) clever? Typical business user...I saved a signature that included my mobile number.

What all of this has achieved is the anyone who can do a little digging (or who I tell to stop annoying me via email) sees my firstname.lastname and my phone number. That's usually sufficient to get phishers to at least make an attempt to hack into the account or to temp me with phishing scams.

What I want to do is:
Notify everyone in my directory (can be done on Gmail, I checked) that I am going to go a tad more incognito. Send out an email to "All" saying that in X days I will be at a new address and those of you who wish to stay in contact (either personal or business as I still do some consulting) will need to contact me at this address so I can provide you with the new one.

Does this sound feasible? I think the easiest is to create a second Gmail account and then delete the old one when I'm ready.

I've cleaned off the footer, though, so one clue (my phone #) is gone, at least. Should I maybe just set up an auto-response telling salesmen and undesirables to get off my lawn and not try to locate me, but you hot babes and swell people can ask a bunch of people you know know me and one of them will have already found me. Or I could tell 'em to check LinkedIn which has a closed messaging system so I can vet them before I give them the new email.

It'd sure be easier to just change your Gmail address but that's not really possible.

My major worry is not losing people. My major worry is all the damned little accounts we open on the internet where your email address is your ID in some form. I can't remember how many of those I have. Hell, I think my Google account and MS account ID me by my Gmail address plus password.

Any thoughts (no, I'm not getting a Mac nor changing to Linux)?

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

Would it be easier to change your name and your phone number?

 

[Foolmewunz]

Would it be easier to change your name and your phone number?

It's beginning to look like it. It's all my own fault. If I kept a secure log of all my accounts and passwords I wouldn't be half as concerned. But I guess if there are sites I go to so infrequently or no longer ever log onto and I want to, they'll prompt me to change stuff. If they can't locate the old me, then I'll just rejoin as the new me. (Don't tell Darat, m'kay!)

 

[Wudang]

My major worry is all the damned little accounts we open on the internet where your email address is your ID in some form. I can't remember how many of those I have. Hell, I think my Google account and MS account ID me by my Gmail address plus password.

Any thoughts (no, I'm not getting a Mac nor changing to Linux)?

You might want to check https://haveibeenpwned.com/

The latest scam is to pull email and password from one of these hacker sites then send an email with subject: <your first name><password> then the email says some bollocks about you visiting a porn site that installed a key logger and they will send a video of you to all your friends.

 

[Foolmewunz]

You might want to check https://haveibeenpwned.com/

The latest scam is to pull email and password from one of these hacker sites then send an email with subject: <your first name><password> then the email says some bollocks about you visiting a porn site that installed a key logger and they will send a video of you to all your friends.

Oh, I haven't been PWND. I'm simply the subject of repeated brute force and phishing attempts. MS catches them at it. But if they suss out my user name (duh, it's my name on several sites), they try to log in and change the password, get denied, but then MS forces me to change passwords, as does GMail.

As to the threat to send a compromising video of me to friends, I'd be too busy laughing to send them any Bitcoin. The friends would all be, like, "Whoa Foolmewunz! You charged me for a similar video and now this guy sends it for free! You owe me eleven bucks!"

 

[rjh01]

Suggest keep the old gmail account and redirect all emails to your new one. This is something gmail can do. Your new email address should be not related to your name. But if it is random letters you will never remember it. So make it based on something you know like your mobile number.

Also keep a password manager then you can list all the places where you have a password. Any you forget you can create a sock.

 

[Foolmewunz]

Suggest keep the old gmail account and redirect all emails to your new one. This is something gmail can do. Your new email address should be not related to your name. But if it is random letters you will never remember it. So make it based on something you know like your mobile number.

Also keep a password manager then you can list all the places where you have a password. Any you forget you can create a sock.

My plan is to forward email from the old address to the new one for a time. With What'sApp and social media I've got former colleagues who check email one in a forever who may not see my broadcast, but the intention is to not have me so easily traced by my firstname/lastname and I'm obsessive-compulsive and will read every email that's forwarded, many of which are worthless.

I'm trying to go minimalist. I'm traceable with my actual name on LinkedIn. And through mutual friends. That'll do.

I'm checking into the safest password storage app and will get that set up before I migrate to a new email. That way I can just track 'em down and change any registration info they may have (or, just as likely, let 'em die... at one point or another we all sign up for silly crap).

 

[xterra]

Don't send mail to all. Put all the addresses in BCC, blind carbon copy (and isn't that telling people how old we are?).


That way, when people reply to you they can't REPLY ALL, and start a cascade of messages as everyone says "don't email me like that."