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Tell HN: Need help, locked out of Google account with 10 years of personal data

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Re: Tell HN: Need help, locked out of Google account with 10 years of personal data

#21

Post by A_D_E_P_T »

catlikesshrimp wrote: post #4

First things first: (Parenthesis) From now on, if it is important, pay for it. At least a smaller email provider with real human support, but best is "buying" your own domain and hosting your email. Same goes for backups. And pass the info to your loved ones. Less importantly: Since you know exactly what phone# is requested, try to contact it. Approach it in a way that doesn't alarm the renter and blocks you. Meanwhi…

> but best is "buying" your own domain and hosting your email

I wish this were still the case. Sadly, if you buy a domain and host your own email, you're going to get stuck in spam filters all the damn time. Your email address will feel broken, sending messages into the void.

The only email infrastructure services that are reasonably reliable belong to the likes of Google (Workspace), Microsoft (365), etc. Protonmail is reportedly okay, but my experience is that they still get spammed an awful lot.

Re: Tell HN: Need help, locked out of Google account with 10 years of personal data

#22

Post by taosx »

CityOfThrowaway wrote: post #18

YMMV but I've had similar loops during login that were resolved by trying to login in incognito mode. And if it works, then clear all your cookies / reboot / try again in the main browser. There's something broken in google's auth security system.

Just tried, first screen:

"Account disabled 'myemail@gmail.com', We noticed unusual activity in your Google Account and locked it to protect your information. Learn more" and a button "Try to restore".

And now I got: "Too many failed attempts, Unavailable because of too many failed attempts. Try again in a few hours.".

At least I got a new message.

Re: Tell HN: Need help, locked out of Google account with 10 years of personal data

#23

Post by Loughla »

chistev wrote: post #12
voisin wrote: post #9

Not intending to shame OP, but in 2024 with stories like this occurring regularly, I am totally baffled why anyone still trusts Google with anything important. Make the switch! Run, don’t walk. Do it today. Google is the Scorpion in the parable of the frog and the scorpion - it cannot help its nature. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Scorpion_and_the_Frog

Switch to what?

You don't necessarily need to switch, just ensure Redundancy. If you keep a password database in there, or personal files, keep it on a secure external drive and make backups. Or Dropbox. Or anything.

Just keep an extra. Don't put all your eggs in one basket.

We have a home media server. Our important data automatically backs new files to a secure folder in there once a week. If I can do it, anyone can. And it could be done easily to an external drive or something that you plug in once a month. Anything. Anything at all.

Most companies have backups. There's a reason they do that.

Re: Tell HN: Need help, locked out of Google account with 10 years of personal data

#24

Post by n2d4 »

a5c11 wrote: post #20
loloquwowndueo wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which service do you recommend as alternative?

I am very happy with Apple and iCloud, seriously. I've got plenty of cloud space for a fair price, it integrates seamlessly with Apple devices, ships with a password manager, you can hide your mail addresses, and other goodies. I've never had a problem with it.

There are similar stories with Apple: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38625875

Re: Tell HN: Need help, locked out of Google account with 10 years of personal data

#26

Post by Loughla »

taosx wrote: post #5
passwordoops wrote: post #3

Upvoting as this usually proves the only effective way to get service. Try cross-posting to Reddit as well

Thank you, will probably resort to that as well.

Also do Twitter and whatever other socials you have. The only way to get them to help is public shame. It's sad, but we don't make the rules, we just play by them.

Re: Tell HN: Need help, locked out of Google account with 10 years of personal data

#27

Post by CityOfThrowaway »

taosx wrote: post #22
CityOfThrowaway wrote: post #18

YMMV but I've had similar loops during login that were resolved by trying to login in incognito mode. And if it works, then clear all your cookies / reboot / try again in the main browser. There's something broken in google's auth security system.

Just tried, first screen: "Account disabled 'myemail@gmail.com', We noticed unusual activity in your Google Account and locked it to protect your information. Learn more" and a button "Try to restore". And now I got: "Too many failed attempts, Unavailable because of too many failed attempts. Try again in a few hours.". At least I got a new message.

Yeah... this is consistent with my experience. Try to keep calm and actually try again in a few hours.

It sounds like you have 2FA enabled so an account takeover is very unlikely. It sounds like you haven't violated the TOS in some egregious way, so actual ban is unlikely.

Most likely is there's some type of crazy cookie thing going on that is causing the auth system to vomit. It's shocking that this happens, but alas.

Re: Tell HN: Need help, locked out of Google account with 10 years of personal data

#28

Post by EVa5I7bHFq9mnYK »

taosx wrote: post #8
wilderw wrote: post #6

You say you lost a phone number in 2022. Might some of the people you know, still have it in their contact lists?

Sorry, I meant that I don't have it in my possession as I've moved out of the country and stopped paying for it, but I still know the number, the issue is that I can't get a message to it for 2FA.

I also moved out of country, but I kept paying $10/month for the phone number and $20/month for the mailing address, it's worth it.

Re: Tell HN: Need help, locked out of Google account with 10 years of personal data

#29

Post by ravenstine »

CityOfThrowaway wrote: post #18

YMMV but I've had similar loops during login that were resolved by trying to login in incognito mode. And if it works, then clear all your cookies / reboot / try again in the main browser. There's something broken in google's auth security system.

Same. I don't remember how I got out of it the last time, but I came to the conclusion that their login security is dysfunctional. I even had the right phone, authenticator codes, etc., and it kept asking me for something else that woulf lead to an authenticator code being asked for again, restarting the whole loop.

Maybe it's more "secure", but the situation is strikingly similar to a hacker changing your passwords.

So glad I switched to ProtonMail a long time ago and decentralize my data across different services. One's life should not be left in the hands of The Google.

Re: Tell HN: Need help, locked out of Google account with 10 years of personal data

#30

Post by eminent101 »

I'm sorry this happened. This is my digital nightmare scenario!

It is disturbing how much of our digital and physical life (utility accounts, medical insurance, etc. etc.) are tied to email addresses and these email addresses are something we can never ever truly own. If you are locked out of email, you are also locked out of at least half a dozen critical portals that send password resets, OTPs and all kinds of authentication fragments to your email address!

Most email addresses are on somebody else's domain and they can lock you out anytime. Even if you manage to set up your domain name, you are still renting the domain name from someone. One missed payment or you somehow mess up the admin work of your domain name or you lose your domain name for any reason (yes, it happens!), nobody in the world can reach your email address!

How did this happen? Weren't the old days of snailmail better? You could own a house or you could rent a house and get actual physical letters at your home. If you moved houses, you could have the new tenants of the old house forward mail to your new one until everything settled down.

Email addresses seem like good secondary mode of communication but I find it disturbing that all around the world, email addresses have become the primary mode of communcation and sometimes the only mode of communication!

Does anyone else feel extremely uncomfortable that so much of our critical digital and physical lives are tied to email addresses, things that we can never truly own and can be taken away from us anytime?

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