First of all your configuration should be complete and validated - please check this first in the administration area. Second you need a mail server configured in your confluence instance. At last please check if you have used the correct syntax and type the username correctly .. e.g.: @admin:
It is important not to forget the colon after the username and the @ before the username.
Go to your Confluence administration area > Logging & Profiling and add "com.hascode" and the desired log level to the entries. Having done this take a look at your log files.
Perhaps the shiny new build-in sharing function in Confluence 3.5 matches your needs