It's an all too common e-mail goof: you type a quick e-mail to a friend or colleague and in your rush you accidentally send it to another person with a similar name. While such mistakes are usually just inconvenient and embarrassing, they can have severe consequences for attorneys using their e-mail to transmit confidential or sensitive information.

Google recently added a new tool to their Gmail Labs (we've written about Gmail Labs before) which may help you avoid this kind of mistake. The feature - "Got the Wrong Bob?" - tries to identify when you've included the wrong person on an e-mail, and adds a small warning that reads something like: "Did you mean: Bob Smith instead of Bob Jones".

The feature is no substitute for simple care and attention to detail - especially as it's still experimental - but it may be worth trying as an added level of security.

Microsoft Outlook users concerned about similarly misdirected e-mails may want to take the stronger step of disabling AutoComplete entirely. Forcing yourself to enter e-mail addresses manually, or to navigate your address book and deliberately select your recipients, should help you avoid problems. To disable AutoComplete in Outlook 2003/2007:

1. Go to the "Tools" menu and select "Options"
2. Click "Email Options"
3. Click "Advanced E-mail Options"
4. Uncheck the box next to "Suggest names while completing To, Cc, and Bcc fields."

Read: New in Labs: Got the wrong Bob?