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My gmail account has a dot between my first and last name (ie. first.last@gmail.com). Recently, I've been getting emails about Facebook and other sign-ups to firstlast@gmail.com - but they are arriving at my first.last@gmail.com address.
It appears that I'm receiving someone else's email (the person with the Gmail address very similar to mine, but without the dot separating first and last?). Is that possible? If so, this seems like a huge security/ privacy issue.
This is actually a fairly infamous issue in the Gmail world, known as the "Gmail dot issue." Since the inception of Gmail, accounts with and without a dot separating the first and last name are treated the same. Technically, the dot variant is treated as an alias of the non-dot version of your email address.
So you don't need to worry that you are receiving someone else's emails or that someone else has access to your account. To verify this, simply login to your gmail account with your "non-dot" address. You'll notice that the login will work, but in the upper right corner it will still show your account "with the dot."
Why are you getting emails from someone else? They are simply mistyping (misspelling) the email address they sign up with (in your case, Facebook). This could happen with any email address, Gmail or not, dot or no dot.
