Should I change my Gmail address?

QI’ve had a Gmail account since 2004, with the email address dave.mangramsmith@gmail. com. In previous issues, you’ve said that Google ignores full stops before the @ symbol. However, someone in the USA apparently uses davemangramsmith@gmail.com because I’m receiving messages intended for this person, some of them from banks. Could the intended recipient be getting my emails? Should I contact Google? Alternatively, should I delete my Gmail account and start again with a new one? Any advice or observations gratefully received. Dave Mangram-smith

AWe’ve changed your name and email address to prevent spam and malicious messages. We’re afraid that all we can do here is reiterate what we’ve said before, which is that nothing can be done to ‘fix’ this. As far as Gmail is concerned, dave. mangramsmith@gmail.com and davemangramsmith@gmail.com are exactly the same, as would be dave. mangram.smith@gmail.com and even d.a.v.e.m.a.n.g.r.a.m.s.m.i.t.h@gmail. com. If there is a real Dave MangramSmith in the US, he won’t be receiving emails sent to any variant of ‘davemangramsmith’ featuring a full stop before that @ symbol: it’s just a case of the senders typing the wrong address.

Much more likely is that these are spam messages, or the results of spoofing – where some miscreant is using your email address (or a variant) to send fake messages. Your best bet in these circumstances is to flag the messages as spam, because that will result in fewer of them ending up in your inbox. Just tick their entries in Gmail then click the ‘Report spam’ button (see screenshot).