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But if you try to create an account with the username, it tells you "CANNOT CREATE, USER ALREADY EXISTS".

Then don't do it, give a generic error message and send an email to the accounts email address saying "Did you try to sign-up, you already have an account, here is the reset link in case you forgot the password"




Sending an email to the registered account is not a solution, because that doesn't tell the registering user that the username is unavailable.


If a username isn't obtainable, it would be fair to assume the username is in use.

I know of no situations that seed "unobtainable usernames" in a DB. Although now, I would expect that.




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