this post was submitted on 18 May 2025
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Privacy

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So, I was about to make an account at an online shopping platform and was considering putting a fake name. Is this too much paranoia, or is it okay?

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[–] [email protected] 27 points 5 days ago (2 children)

Ok funny story about this. I tried this on Amazon because the first time I ever used it. It did not occur to me that it uses your account name on the shipping label. Boy was USPS confused when they got a package with the name “Pac-Rat” on it and it delayed it by a week. So not sure if I’d use a fake name but if you do don’t use your go to user name for online stuff.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 days ago

Really? I have had my legal name in my account and my common name on my shipping address on Amazon for ages. And I've shipped gifts from Amazon for over a decade with the name of the recipient.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 5 days ago

It could also be delivered to a pick-up box in which case it's at worst illegal or at least against ToS. "Billing address" just sounds like something potentially serious.