Before I begin, it's possible that this issue may boil down to "yes, some people are that dumb/weird."
I have several rarely used Gmail addresses. Before Chrome allowed you to switch easily between inboxes, I set up these addresses to forward to my main Gmail so I could see if anything came in/respond without having to log in/out.
About a month ago, one of these near-defunct addresses forwarded me a notification about signing up for an apartment rental site. The emails all referenced a name that has no connection with me (i.e. "Brittany! Thanks for signing up to our site!" and I don't know or have any family named Brittany). I eventually received about 10 emails all related to apartment rentals in a state to which I have no connection.
One email contained a copy of a completed application submitted through one of these sites. The name on the app matched the name in the subject line. There was a phone number for the person, so I texted it. The information on the application was consistent with the type of notifications I received (apartments in the same city/state, a request for low-cost housing).
I texted the number and said, hey, "Brittany" at this number is using an email address that doesn't belong to them to sign up for apartment rental. Please stop using the email address. The recipient asked who I was, and I said that I am the owner of the email address being used, and obviously "Brittany" isn't getting these confirmation emails because it doesn't belong to her. I never got a reply.
Before I texted "Brittany," I thought my identity had been stolen. My personal information has been involved in data breaches (whose hasn't?) so it seemed plausible. However, nothing has happened before or since to indicate a stolen identity. I don't have any new or unrecognized logins, no fraudulent charges to my bank account or credit cards, no credit bureau hits, etc. I also logged in to the actual Gmail account itself and updated the password. There was nothing in that inbox to suggest fraud or even any attempts to access it and failing.
The email address in question is simple and made up of two words, one of which is suggestive of my location. That location is several states away from where "Brittany" lives.
After about a month with nothing new from "Brittany," I got more similar emails today. No one is trying to log into the address or I would get a notification.
I feel pretty confident that my identity hasn't been stolen, and that "Brittany" is a real, legitimate person just trying to find housing.
My question is: Who would use an email address they don't have access to to repeatedly sign up for important financial/housing issues? It's obvious that she isn't getting these notifications, and I don't see any evidence that a secondary email is also getting the messages. What's more, I have alerted her that I'm getting her personal information by explaining that I got the number I texted from the application that was sent to me.
What does it benefit someone who appears to be signing up to legitimate sites for legitimate reasons to use an email address that isn't theirs?
Is there anything I can do to stop this? The Gmail address being used has no associations or connections to my accounts/financials, it's just annoying and unnerving to receive these notices because it puts me on even higher alert that some part of my online presence (even if an extremely insignificant part) is being misused.
I appreciate any input.