Somebody else has used my email address to set up an Apple account. Help!

Re: “…Is there a way to recover this account …”

Unfortunately not thru Apple.

NOTE: Her eMail account might NOT be compromised.

She would have received that same messsage if the eMail was used as a Recovery / Notification eMail address on another Apple Account (possibly even yours).

If the eMail account has indeed been compromised, she may have alternatives available thru her eMail provider.

Contact their support organization and explain how she believes that her account has been taken-over by an unauthorized entity.

the email address has not been compromised. another person has simply used my email address address to set up an account for themselves rather than use their own. All i want is to use my email address for my new account.

Now I’m confused …

… my understanding:

Your wife was trying setup a new Apple Account for herself with her pre-existing, non-Apple email address.

Correct ? If so:

What does that have to do w/ your email address?

👍

Note that you and your wife need to have separate emails and therefore separate Apple Accounts.

Trying to share a single Apple Account —even for a short period — will only create a frustrating, difficult to dis-entangle later mess.

Make sure that each family member has their own Apple Account - Apple Support

Yes, we're not trying to use the same email account or to share an account. I think that would be counterproductive. Also I checked my account set-up and her email address is not specified. So it is definitely just some random using it. It's not the first time she's experienced something similar with than email address, it seems to be a magnet for this kind of thing.

Re: “… we're not trying to use the same email account or to share an account. I think that would be counterproductive …”

Much more so than many can imagine.

Once you get everything sorted, Apple’s Family Sharing provides what families need, while still maintaining the security, privacy, and redundancy of separate Apple Accounts.

In our own household, the ability to readily “ping” and locate other family member’s devices is a very well-used feature.

How to set up Family Sharing on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac - Apple Support

thank you for your reply. please can you let me know details on how my email provider can help me?

Yes sorry, that is confusing. I wrote the original post and then my wife took over responding to some of the messages.

Ok thanks. I will check the recovery emails on my account in case this the issue.