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Ask HN: How do I get my Google account back?

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Re: Ask HN: How do I get my Google account back?

#81

Post by 0des »

sigmoid10 wrote: post #19
OJFord wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

ISP sees a new MAC address; it's perhaps quite likely that if you don't have a static IP it'd change on router replacement.

Could also just be plain bad luck. Dynamic IPs are given out based on availability. So you could stick with one for months if you keep your connection active and then just happen to lose it during one of the moments you unplugged the router. To google this would seem like a static IP that suddenly changed.

nope, this is a tried and true method i use to change my ip on non static service. I change the router mac address, flip the modem, and voila new IP

Re: Ask HN: How do I get my Google account back?

#82

Post by 0des »

adingus wrote: post #45
dadarecit wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

dude what the fuck, literally lmao

Buying new hardware might be slightly over the top but it's essentially my experience with losing a Gmail account. The hijacker was extremely fast trying to get into my Amazon, PayPal, bank, credit card accounts and trying to steal my identity. The whole situation was awful. I was stupid and used poor security which made it easier for this person (who was also probably using data from the Equifax leak for social engi…

credential recovery and account takeover is trivial, most people have automated that process. once the lock is popped, all value can be extracted, verified, and pivoted in moments.

Re: Ask HN: How do I get my Google account back?

#83

Post by donthellbanme »

sigmoid10 wrote: post #24

>Unfortunately I did not have a phone number associated with this account. My understanding is I would have been able to recover my account, If I had one. It boggles my mind how people can have their entire life tied to this service and not connect a phone number, especially since google regularly warns you during login that this can happen if you don't add your number. They even ask to confirm every now and then in…

Some people can't afford a a smart phone, and rely just on a landline, sometimes one phone for an entire home.

We need a federal law that two factor authencation needs to work on landlines.

The technology is there. It's not expensive either.

Re: Ask HN: How do I get my Google account back?

#84

Post by davidmitchell2 »

tyrfing wrote: post #56
mnvrth wrote: post #50

(Disclaimer: I'm part of the crew building https://ente.io ) I hope someone at Google takes a look at this and uses their internal tool to help OP. That said, this oft repeated story is one of the most compelling reasons why I think Google alternatives (like the one we're building) will catch on in the mainstream population. Not privacy. But the fact that we offer human support, whilst Google doesn't.

How does your human support handle a user forgetting their password?

Assuming they have cryptography all data is lost.

Re: Ask HN: How do I get my Google account back?

#85

Post by ajb »

dmd wrote: post #47
MrPatan wrote: post #37

I can't help the OP, but I can help you, gmail user reading this: This WILL happen to you. Get your own domain and set up email through it ASAP. Use some free one, use a paid one (I like fastmail), but get it done now. Then migrate all your accounts to it.

I really really want to do this but am stuck on Gmail because of their spam filtering. Is there ANY other provider that does spam filtering that actually works? I tried Fastmail, but I receive so much spam (>600 per day vs. ~20 non-spam per day) that only Gmail's spam filtering is good enough. I've tried others (like Fastmail) and typically ~50/day get through their spam filters, vs. at Gmail where on a typical day 1…

You can use Gmail with your own domain, and download all the email via IMAP/POP, or forward it all to another account. That way you get the functionality but not the dependency. This is the safest way to set up any cloud email account, even if you decide to move from Gmail to a different one.

Re: Ask HN: How do I get my Google account back?

#86

Post by davidmitchell2 »

j4tech wrote: post #44
AnonC wrote: post #3

> Unfortunately I did not have a phone number associated with this account. My understanding is I would have been able to recover my account, If I had one. This is not true, in my experience. Having a phone number verified and linked to the account as a recovery number may help, but it does not always mean that you’d be able to recover the account. I recently had trouble with one of my Gmail accounts where I successf…

Thank you. I was wondering if having my own domain would be a better option...

Get an account with iCloud and forward all mails as backup to iCloud

Re: Ask HN: How do I get my Google account back?

#87

Post by davidmitchell2 »

j4tech wrote: post #46
franciscop wrote: post #15

I wonder if you are in Europe or somehow related? Would anyone know of any success case where you can GDPR them to receive all the data associated to you in this way? It's not "your account", but at least might give you your data back.

I live in US

No post body was provided.

Re: Ask HN: How do I get my Google account back?

#88

Post by smoothgrammer »

YPPH wrote: post #77

I'm afraid I can't help you. I'm not sure whether Googlers here can either. I'd be surprised if they are allowed to modify user accounts outside the established processes. I would recommend anyone who values their Google account, and who can afford it, to purchase two FIDO security keys and enroll in the Advanced Protection Program. [0] Once you've done that, security warnings upon sign in go away. It would seem you…

It's good, but a lot of integrations with Google do not work with advanced protection. Which results in me having 2 accounts, 1 primary and 1 secondary for whatever doesn't work with advanced protection. I've particularly found android tv to not play nice with advanced protection.

Re: Ask HN: How do I get my Google account back?

#89

Post by jatgoodwin »

zorked wrote: post #40
sigmoid10 wrote: post #24

>Unfortunately I did not have a phone number associated with this account. My understanding is I would have been able to recover my account, If I had one. It boggles my mind how people can have their entire life tied to this service and not connect a phone number, especially since google regularly warns you during login that this can happen if you don't add your number. They even ask to confirm every now and then in…

That's a mistake I will never make again. Your phone number is insecure - but even if wasn't, you are setting yourself up for losing your account forever if you ever forget to transfer all your 2FA numbers, or if the phone company decides they want to cancel your contract, or potentially if you lose your SIM card, or even if whatever SMS gateway doesn't like your number for whatever reason. Literally, you are giving…

I recently discovered the printed codes aren't particularly reliable and google will still ask for another authentication method. I managed to get into my account by driving to a wifi google recognized as "home" and being connected to that after the codes weren't enough. I too assumed they were some sort of master key but they're just an extra method and google's security blackbox can decide its not enough.

Re: Ask HN: How do I get my Google account back?

#90

Post by theshrike79 »

timattrn wrote: post #48
zorked wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a mistake I will never make again. Your phone number is insecure - but even if wasn't, you are setting yourself up for losing your account forever if you ever forget to transfer all your 2FA numbers, or if the phone company decides they want to cancel your contract, or potentially if you lose your SIM card, or even if whatever SMS gateway doesn't like your number for whatever reason. Literally, you are giving…

Use a 2fa app with backups, or one that syncs to different devices (e.g. authy). It's distributed TFA. The phone number is not very secure, so I don't think it should be a part of TFA. I therefore agree that it is unwise to allow Google to use it for this. I also have a fake dob on my phone account to make Sim porting harder, but you can't trust that you have control over your phone number.

1Password also has a distributed TOTP system.
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