Subscriber Carolyn wrote with a strange Gmail problem. It’s really unusual because Carolyn isn’t using Gmail…
Hi Terry
I have a peculiar problem that I’m hoping you can help me with.
I have a friend in Los Angeles who uses a gmail account (my Email is an Earthlink A/c). I keep getting Emails in my Inbox addressed to her gmail account (I have now received 3 from USPS with Confirmation numbers for carrier pickups, confirmation of pre-paid address labels, etc., and one from Vanguard to say her Mutual Fund Statement is ready!))
She tried taking me out of the address book on her gmail account and having me use her other Email address, but it still happens.
Do you have any suggestions please??
Thanks,
Carolyn
I wrote back to Carolyn to suggest that she have her friend look at the Filters she has set up in Gmail.
Near the top of the Gmail window, to the right of the search box, there’s a link that says "Create a filter". If she clicks on that, it opens the Create a Filter page, which has all the functional filter parts at the top in a gold/dark yellow box. At the bottom left-hand corner of the gold box is a link "Show current filters"
Gmail allows you to create Filters that meet criteria of your choice, e.g., specific values for one or more of the following:
- From,
- To,
- Subject,
- Has the words,
- Doesn’t have, and
- Has Attachment.
Then, Gmail has some things it can do automatically based on the filter values you’ve chosen and the tasks you’ve assigned to the filter.
To create a filter, you fill in a value in one or more of those options, e.g. put USPS in the From box, and then click the button Next Step.
On the next page, you get checkboxes for:
- Skip the Inbox (Archive it),
- Mark as Read,
- Star it,
- Apply the label (pick label),
- Forward it to (enter email address),
- Delete it, and
- Never send it to Spam.
The final step would be Create Filter.
She may have played around some time in the past and set up a filter that forwards emails to you — forwarding like that can be done in a manner that doesn’t appear to have come from her account.
I’m not sure how Gmail does the forwarding, but I think this is where Carolyn’s friend’s problem is.
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