If you look on one of the information aggregators like Spokeo, you'll see all sorts of errors. They make all kinds of connections that you wouldn't think of. My parents bought some property from some people who happened to have the same last name. Spokeo says they're all living in that same house together, and that the husband, who was 42, was the father of my father. Who at that time was 84. It also says that my older daughter is my sister, and my younger daughter is my mother.

I got a call here for DD1, and they wouldn't tell me who it was or what they wanted. They asked for her by her previous married name, which had been changed twice in the last 15 years, once after divorcing her ex, and again when she remarried. I'm pretty sure it was a collection agency, and she thinks they may have been after her deceased ex-father-in-law or somebody who would be responsible for his bills.

It certainly would have traumatized any child to be confronted by them..they were not in a "child friendly" mood. I know they save a lot of children from bad circumstances, but in my case, they went way too far. I was happy, (after it was over), that they called the police, because he was the one with the sense to ask me for my drivers license. I never even thought of that, just kept denying I was the woman, and that I had any small kids here...can't think straight when you're being yelled at by 2 people, and accused of hiding children!

My daughter lives in a different state, and when she's getting ready to visit at Christmas she usually has any online gift orders sent to our house to avoid the possibility of missing them. They come addressed to her name, and since she started doing this, we have been getting junk mail addressed to her here, also. Amazon or their affiliated sellers are sharing addresses, it appears. The same daughter lived with her brother and his wife for a few months after college, and they still get junk mail addressed to her, even though they have moved twice since that time, which was 18 years ago. She moved a number of times before finally buying a house several years ago, and you have to wonder if companies like Geico aren't sending out the same mailer to the same person at a half dozen different addresses every week. It boggles the mind how much waste is involved, but supposedly the postage on junk mail helps to keep the postal service afloat.

I still prefer the junk mail instead of the constant telephone calls from all the nutty people who call and call again trying to sell me burial plots. I keep telling them that I'm still alive and don't need one! Sometimes I get up to 12 goofy calls a day! I feel like setting fire to the phone!! :(

What ever happened to business integrity? I once had a quilting magazine subscription that had a mis-spelling of my unusual name. You could not believe the amount of junk mail that came with the same mis-spelled name. I never give my cell phone number or e-mail unless it is official business. I just write N/A. Mostly, it works. In spite of care taken, we receive lots of unwanted calls on our phone. We just don't answer.

Not to hijack the thread, but yes, I was "swatted" once in the late 1980's. We lived in Navy housing and not to go into too much detail, the CPS investigator sat my children down in the LR and asked probing questions. I was scared witless, as it could have affected my husband's career, and the investigator said she would have taken the children with her had their answers been different. When asked who reported us, she said she couldn't tell me, it was an anonymous person. It was a harrowing experience. I had done nothing wrong...and taught at the local elementary school!

We are careful about giving out our information and have blocked our SSNs. It cost $10 each, but no one can use the number for a loan or anything financial. If we need a loan, we'll have to pay to unblock it during that process. What is really stupid is that some IDs and even Medicare use the SSN which makes it available to others!

Medicare cards are coming out now to everyone and the SS number will no longer be on them. about time.

My husband and I sometimes get mail from organizations requesting money. In return they send address labels. I have mailed some back because they have us as "Jerry and Jerry". My husband is Jerry but I'm not. I can't use them. I told my husband if they would just save their money, they wouldn't have to beg for mine. We do give to some charitable organizations but not every one that comes in our mail.

We get mail for a young woman named Katy. She lived in our house with her Grandmother before it was our house. We can’t get rid of it no matter what we do (return to sender, give personally to mailman, hand deliver to her Granny, etc). We’ve even done the illegal thing of opening it and calling the phone number inside to get it stopped. The letters are from a finance company to let her know her car is going to be repossessed. It’s slowed down but after 5 years we still get them and they go straight to the shredder now. Geeesh !

Years ago I had a dear friend as room mate. His first name was Clarence, but he was called Chuck. My last name and his, are not even close to each other. His was Native American, and mine is Norwegian. Ever since that time, I have received mail with his first name Clarence and my last name. It started with a mailing list from a politician, and now every so often I get mail for the non-existent fake person. I usually just send them back, except for the one that said “You have already won! “ and you know the rest of that ad...lo. I only keep it to prove that some winners (me, get $8.86 as my winnings) and some fake people win that sweepstakes.