The ‘dot problem’ in Gmail: Why you should avoid making this mistake when sending emails

Gmail issue

There’s an actual support page on Gmail that reads “Dots don't matter in Gmail addresses”. And, there’s a pretty good reason for that. The Google Support page explains that adding or removing dots from a Gmail address does not change the email address and you’ll still receive the email.

Confusing right? Well, let us explain.

For instance, you have an email address with rahulkumar@gmail.com. Then, you own all the dotted versions of that address, irrespective of all the permutations and combinations you try.

r.ahulkumar@gmail.com

ra.hulkumar@gmail.com

rah.ulkumar@gmail.com

rahu.lkumar@gmail.com

rahul.kumar@gmail.com

rahulk.umar@gmail.com

rahulku.mar@gmail.com

rahulkum.ar@gmail.com

rahulkuma.r@gmail.com

All these email addresses belong to you and if anyone trying to send them to your original address and mistakenly typed any of these addresses, you’ll still receive the address. This applies to all the versions – you can add a dot after each letter and the email will still get del

That’s the problem and it can be catastrophic

This entire thing can lead to a major privacy issue. For instance, you own rahulkumar@gmail.com. Considering Rahul Kumar is a common name and someone else has an email address with rahul.92.kumar92@gmail.com. And, someone made a mistake and typed rahul.kumar@gmail.com. Then all the data shared on that particular email will be sent to you and not to the person it was intended for.

So, there’s a good chance that you’ll end up receiving someone else’s email with sensitive information like bank statements, and a credit card bill which includes a lot of personal information. Sometimes, bank OTPs and other crucial information are also received in emails which can lead to the wrong person compromising your privacy and lead to financial fraud, scams, etc.

There’s an exception to this case

Google’s official support page also highlights that “dots don’t matter” do not apply if you are using a Gmail address issued by an organisation or educational institution.

What to do

Google has also recommended some steps that users can take to handle such situations. Before that, do keep in mind that this does not compromise your Gmail’s security and privacy. No one else gets your emails, nor anyone can read them.

Coming to the steps you can take. Google suggests users to notify the send in case the email does not appear to be a scam. If it does, Google has recommended users to report the email as spam or phishing. Also, if it is a newsletter, then unsubscribe them.