5

I would like to delete an old e-mail address of mine. However, I'm not exactly sure on which (popular or obscure) sites I signed up for an account using that address.

If I delete the address, someone else could register the same address (after a few month waiting period). Given the name, this is not unlikely. The new owner could then sign up for an account on some site and if they find the address is already in use, they would reset the password and get into my old account.

Is there any software tool that could help me verify which accounts are associated with the address? For example, by triggering the password reset on lots of popular (and probably less popular) sites automatically?

Improve this question
4
  • if it is a google account you can use myaccount.google.com/u/0/permissions?pli=1 for some of them
    – CaffeineAddiction
    Feb 12, 2017 at 6:13
  • 2
    The only reliable solution would be to not delete your account entirely. This thread has some additional arguments why: security.stackexchange.com/questions/145539/…
    – Arminius
    Feb 12, 2017 at 6:20
  • Interesting... if this is possilble, then it should also be possible to enumerate users for a website.
    – Limit
    Feb 12, 2017 at 14:03
  • @Limit: not necessarily. If the tool scans your email address to search for account creation/password reset emails and/or send password reset request to their website list, then that won't allow outside attackers to enumerate your accounts.
    – Lie Ryan
    Mar 14, 2017 at 11:42

3 Answers 3

Reset to default
2

Short answer is, not really ... and if you think about it, its actually a good thing most of the time. Can you imagine going for a job interview and being asked why you registered for an "adult" site, or a site that promotes piracy back when you where in school ... and whether or not this makes you a fundamentally decent person today?

However, most sites you sign up for should have a double opt-in ... one on the page, and a verification via email. In this case you should have a record of it in your old email (if you didn't delete it).

Also, if you signed up for a site and you adhere to a good password strategy ... you may be able to check your browsers saved passwords for a list of accounts associated with a given email address.

Improve this answer
1

Best idea I got: Don´t delete the old address then. Just stop using it, but keep an account in your email software open for it. It won´t bother you unless you have to pay for it.

Improve this answer
0

Yes, there are tools which can be useful to you. There are online pages for searching on internet. You can search people by name, by mail, etc... with that you can see sites with that data registered (of course sites on which the data is public).

Take a look into powerful tool: OsintFramework

So for your case you can do a reverse email search with a lot of tools on this link.

Improve this answer

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.