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j_b · 15 Jun 2023, 03:25 AM

I have another strange use of catch-all. I have a mydomain.tld custom domain that I'm not using, so I just put a catch-all email forward on it.

Since late 2021 or so, I have regularly received notifications from Google/Gmail that some random abc12345@gmail.com account has decided to use an equally random recovery email xyz67890@mydomain.tld. The handles always look very spammy.

At first I just ignored the notifications, however as these notifications accumulated, out of curiosity I decided to take over some of these Google accounts, since after all I own their recovery emails. It's not too difficult as none of these accounts is 2FA protected, none has a telephone # attached, however when an account is still logged-in on a phone, I have been unable to take it over as Google's recovery process insists on sending a prompt or sms to that phone as well.

In any case I have been able to take over many of these spammy Google/Gmail accounts, and they are ...weird. Some are new, some are 3-4 year old. Some were created in East/South Asia, some in the US (based on chosen language, last login location when available, and browsing & Youtube history when available). A few were used to send out weird spammy emails (but not the kind of blatant spams that you usually get in Gmail Spam folder, rather emails containing incoherent sentences and words lumped together, sent to many other similarly spammy @gmail.com addresses). A few also have some equally weird Sheets/Docs/jpg files in Google Drive. Most however are nearly empty of any content. And I have not seen anything looking remotely like real, personal Gmail emails or content.

Now the question is: why do the (presumed) spammers create these Google/Gmail accounts then "give them away" via the recovery emails ? What is the purpose of the weird emails they sometime send out using these accounts ? I have also never seen anyone trying to reclaim these accounts (presumably lost to them now that I control them), as I have had no notification of attempted recovery, no mail asking for return of the account (something I would not mind doing as I have no interest in owning these random Gmail accounts with random worthless handle), etc.. Prior to writing this (long) post, I tried to access again some of these accounts, and a few have been blocked by Google infamously strict access/recovery control ("suspicious login", "account disabled", etc..) which obviously I won't bother to recover.

15 Jun 2023, 03:25 AM	#28
j_b Junior Member Join Date: May 2018 Posts: 13	I have another strange use of catch-all. I have a mydomain.tld custom domain that I'm not using, so I just put a catch-all email forward on it. Since late 2021 or so, I have regularly received notifications from Google/Gmail that some random abc12345@gmail.com account has decided to use an equally random recovery email xyz67890@mydomain.tld. The handles always look very spammy. At first I just ignored the notifications, however as these notifications accumulated, out of curiosity I decided to take over some of these Google accounts, since after all I own their recovery emails. It's not too difficult as none of these accounts is 2FA protected, none has a telephone # attached, however when an account is still logged-in on a phone, I have been unable to take it over as Google's recovery process insists on sending a prompt or sms to that phone as well. In any case I have been able to take over many of these spammy Google/Gmail accounts, and they are ...weird. Some are new, some are 3-4 year old. Some were created in East/South Asia, some in the US (based on chosen language, last login location when available, and browsing & Youtube history when available). A few were used to send out weird spammy emails (but not the kind of blatant spams that you usually get in Gmail Spam folder, rather emails containing incoherent sentences and words lumped together, sent to many other similarly spammy @gmail.com addresses). A few also have some equally weird Sheets/Docs/jpg files in Google Drive. Most however are nearly empty of any content. And I have not seen anything looking remotely like real, personal Gmail emails or content. Now the question is: why do the (presumed) spammers create these Google/Gmail accounts then "give them away" via the recovery emails ? What is the purpose of the weird emails they sometime send out using these accounts ? I have also never seen anyone trying to reclaim these accounts (presumably lost to them now that I control them), as I have had no notification of attempted recovery, no mail asking for return of the account (something I would not mind doing as I have no interest in owning these random Gmail accounts with random worthless handle), etc.. Prior to writing this (long) post, I tried to access again some of these accounts, and a few have been blocked by Google infamously strict access/recovery control ("suspicious login", "account disabled", etc..) which obviously I won't bother to recover.