This was reported to me by I user:

i'm using the firefox browser and it gives me the option of having tabs open to different pages so i can open the forums, then hit 'new tab' and open a second instance of the forum on the second tab, i can log out of mookie and log into luket... the first tab still says mookie, as long as i don't touch anything; so it looks like I'm logged in as two different people at the same time. Now, if mookie's page had been open to a pm, and i typed in a reply and sent it, after logging in as luket... I'm not actually logged in as mookie, and as soon as the pm is sent it will tell me that I'm actually luket... in the right hand column, instead of saying 'read' or 'unread' , luket's pm says 'received' ... i just can't open or delete it

It looks to me like it's cookie confusion…
The problem is that you end up with PM's in your box the you cannot open or delete.

Any thoughts?

Yes: Don't do that.

Cookies are per-browser, not per-tab. Logging out in one tab and logging in as another user will cause you to remain logged in as that user in all tabs. The name on the page doesn't change because it hasn't reloaded.

Yes, he's describing some of the blonde moves I've managed to do as board admin. I realize that it can be fixed by remembering not to log onto two identities in two separate tabs... but...

The biggest problem I have with this right now is that screwing up my identity like that has also messed up my PMs. I was accidentally logged in on two different names on two tabs (yes, I'm blonde), and I tried responding to a PM someone had sent. A copy of the PM was for some inexplicable reason sent from my identity A to my identity B, but when identity B tries to read or delete it, she's told that it's not her PM and to get her hands off it. Well, no, it actually says "You are not the recipient for that private message" but I can just picture a scowling face attached. =P

So I'm stuck with a PM in my box that I can neither read nor delete. Instead of telling me "read" or "unread" I'm told it's "received." How do I get rid of it??

If I keep screwing up (I won't! I promise! But IF I did...) I could potentially end up with a box full of unreadable, undeletable PMs.

If you're comfortable with "fiddling" with files via FTP you could load up your member path and open the pms folder and find your userid and see what pm's supposidly belong to you and "clean up" there; but there's nothing in the stock code which would be capable of cleaning up such a mess.

yeah, I can probably help there.. thanks.