someone DOES have the same hotmail email address as me, this is a security issue

Fantastic explanation!

I'm not sure that adding another voice to this conversation is going to convince you, but I'll try nonetheless.

It seems like a lot of people are  having the same problem as me.

Yes, it's a common problem. Many people are careless when entering information into forms at websites. They intend to type A but type B instead, and don't notice that they've done so.

I have an email address that consists of my surname @live.com - I was very quick off the mark when these addresses became available several years ago. Now I regularly receive mail intended for people probably with the same surname, but not with the same email address. Sometimes it's possible to work out the name of the person involved; they have included a Christian lawyer in Uganda, the secretary of a parish council in Kent, a prospective Amazon customer called Tessa, a bingo aficionado in Newcastle and the editor of a newsletter in Raleigh, N. Carolina. I have a Facebook account with dozens of 'friends' I've never heard of, and I have online shopping accounts with both Tesco and Sainsbury that I didn't sign up for. The bingo connection is the worst - I'm constantly being pestered to visit all manner of gambling sites.

Each time I receive one of these messages intended for someone else, I try and inform the sender of the problem. This isn't always possible. I have on several occasions been able to visit the website for the service I apparently signed up for and try to log in. This almost always fails, because I don't have the password. However, it's surprising how many sites will happily send me a new password or password reset link if I just say I've forgotten it. Then I'm able to enter the site and see all sorts of personal information about my alter ego. I rather hope that this will lead to tightened security at those sites when I tell them what I was able to do - I know that it has done so for at least one major international corporation.

I have also been registered as a bone marrow donor somewhere in New York State, even though I've never been to America. I sincerely hope no-one dies because I'm not actually available to help.

Microsoft SHOULD know if someone else has the same email address as me.

No-one has the same email address as you do. It's quite impossible for two people to have the same [Microsoft] email address at the same time. However, the address belonging to an account that has lapsed on account of neglect may be made available to someone else, but not until a year has passed from when it became inactive. This scenario is theoretically possible:

1. Joe Alvarez opens an account called joehotmail.com
2. Joe uses this account as his username for an account at eBay
3. Joe gets another email account at Gmail and finds that easier to use, so he stops using his Hotmail account
4. Nine months later, his Hotmail account is suspended for inactivity.
5. Three months after that, his account is purged - all mail messages, contacts and calendars belonging to joe#hotmail.com are deleted.
6. A year later, Joe Badajoz decides to open an email account at signup.live.com and is pleasantly surprised to find that joehotmail.com is available..
7. Joe B. receives regular mail messages from eBay with special offers, even though he's never had any dealings with eBay.

The upshot of all this is that the Email Service Provider is completely powerless in the face of user carelessness or stupidity. Microsoft can't prevent anyone using your email address e.g. to register a user account at a website, to sign up for a newsletter or to join a political party. The onus is unfortunately on you to inform the senders involved that you are not the one they think you are.

Hi hubba_bubba62,

We may need additional information to investigate your case. Please refer to my private message, take note that you need to login to view the private tab.

Thank you.

Hi saffroncairns,

Welcome to Microsoft Community. I understand that you suspect that your account might have the same email address. Please be informed that each account is unique and our system would not allow to create a duplicate email. To ensure that your account is secured, please try to update your password and reset information by gollowing the steps on this **link**.

If you still encounter this issue, you can try to create a message rule to filter those messages. You may refer to these steps:

1. Sign in your account and go to your Inbox.
2. Click the cog icon located at the upper right of the page and select More mail settings.
3. Under Customizing Outlook, click Rules for sorting new messages.
4. Follow the on screen instructions.

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Thanks!

I have a similar problem. I have hundreds of emails, in Portuguese, meant for a person in Brazil. She has signed up for Facebook and Twitter and other websites using this email, and somehow she is able to respond to the messages send by these websites when you sign up. I have changed my email address multiple times, but the emails continue. I have used Google Translate to read some messages and I did just today find a link in a message to tell Twitter that my email address should not be associated with the account (I can't find anything like that from Facebook, where I can't seem to find any way to report this improper use of my email).

Laurie Swenson

It sounds like they have been confused their real email address with your and have shared the wrong one with others.

Once you have checked the link above to confirm that they are aren't using your email account (which would be highly unlikely seeing you have the password control), why not contact one of the senders of personal email and ask them to contact the owner or tell you their real email address?

This can happen with any email account, not just outlook.com