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Tell HN: Access to my personal Gmail blocked

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Tell HN: Access to my personal Gmail blocked

#1

Post by g_private »

I have completely lost access to my personal Gmail email that I have used for more than 10 years.

I know and am entering the correct password, yet I still cannot log in.

Google is requiring an extra security check (because I use the browser in incognito mode).

This seems to be a recent change that is affecting many users.

I can't verify access to my email because I have no recovery email/phone and I can't remember the answer to the recovery question (the account was created more than 10 years ago).

Very sad! Being barred from accessing my account without a valid reason... and nothing I can do about it.

Re: Tell HN: Access to my personal Gmail blocked

#2

Post by metadat »

That's a bummer, I think we've all learned this lesson the hard way at least once before wising up.

Hindsight is 20/20, obviously would've been an excellent idea to enter that recovery phone or email address field. Why wouldn't you do it? In my experience, Google doesn't care how many email accounts you associate to the same phone number (within some degree of reasonability).

You know this is how it goes when you're dealing with ElGoog. Better luck next time.

Someone could've guessed your password and taken over the account, what would you like (or expect) to happen next?

Re: Tell HN: Access to my personal Gmail blocked

#3

Post by g_private »

metadat wrote: post #2

That's a bummer, I think we've all learned this lesson the hard way at least once before wising up. Hindsight is 20/20, obviously would've been an excellent idea to enter that recovery phone or email address field. Why wouldn't you do it? In my experience, Google doesn't care how many email accounts you associate to the same phone number (within some degree of reasonability). You know this is how it goes when you're…

I only have this address (I don't have any secondary email), so I never set a recovery email.

My password was relatively strong (and only used for email).

I don't know how I'm going to do it. Possibly I will lose access to some things or have some difficulty migrating everything to a new email address.

All my services (social networks, paypal, and others) are associated with this email.

Re: Tell HN: Access to my personal Gmail blocked

#4

Post by nytesky »

metadat wrote: post #2

That's a bummer, I think we've all learned this lesson the hard way at least once before wising up. Hindsight is 20/20, obviously would've been an excellent idea to enter that recovery phone or email address field. Why wouldn't you do it? In my experience, Google doesn't care how many email accounts you associate to the same phone number (within some degree of reasonability). You know this is how it goes when you're…

Doesn’t having a recovery phone make you vulnerable to a port out scam, basically invalidating any 2FA?

Re: Tell HN: Access to my personal Gmail blocked

#7

Post by g_private »

MerelyMortal wrote: post #6

Can you use an IP address that you might have used before? Maybe they are seeing a new IP address and that tipped the scale in their fraud prevention algorithm.

My ip is dynamic, so it sometimes changes. The ISP is the same as always (and the approximate location too).

I access the Internet using the browser's incognito mode. So Google considers each login as from a new device.

Re: Tell HN: Access to my personal Gmail blocked

#8

Post by bigcoffeeguy »

nytesky wrote: post #4
metadat wrote: post #2

That's a bummer, I think we've all learned this lesson the hard way at least once before wising up. Hindsight is 20/20, obviously would've been an excellent idea to enter that recovery phone or email address field. Why wouldn't you do it? In my experience, Google doesn't care how many email accounts you associate to the same phone number (within some degree of reasonability). You know this is how it goes when you're…

Doesn’t having a recovery phone make you vulnerable to a port out scam, basically invalidating any 2FA?

If you have Verizon, they have a number lock feature (https://www.verizon.com/support/port-out-faqs/#) that is designed to protect against this very thing. I have it enabled and feel much better about using SMS 2FA/recovery.

Re: Tell HN: Access to my personal Gmail blocked

#10

Post by simonblack »

I can't remember the answer to the recovery question

Having been in that position myself, I now make sure that any recovery question I accept to use has a single answer (or maybe two at a maximum) that is based on my personal past and can never change. Like "What was your mother's maiden name?" for example.

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