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Old 30 Dec 2019, 04:31 PM   #1
mendoau
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Join Date: Dec 2019
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gmail lockout

Like the title implys my gmail account was closed/locked and I can no longer log into it. The guy on the phone said it was do to some kinda malware on my computer. Kinda wonder...but anyhow I would at least like to have my incoming gmail sent to my new aol account and it would be a bonus to retrieve all my info from that gmail account that I've had for many, many years. Is it possible that a gmail rep could do this for me. Info just dosn't vanish. Any help would be very helpful.
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Old 30 Dec 2019, 11:24 PM   #2
TenFour
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There are no "Gmail reps" to speak to on the phone unless you have a G Suite business account. For regular Gmail the only help is via the online help documents and via email. If someone says they are Gmail account help they are scamming you. The only way to recover a Gmail account typically is to use the online account recovery option when you try to log in.
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Old 7 Jan 2020, 07:48 AM   #3
mendoau
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Been up to my ears trying to get everything up and going again..what a pain...Sorry for the delay in thanking you. Inch by inch I'm sorting things out, HA!
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Old 7 Jan 2020, 01:13 PM   #4
Bamb0
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Welcome to EMD


Good luck!!
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Old 3 Feb 2020, 03:42 AM   #5
sheprd
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I have been through this with GMAIL at least twice where they locked my acct for no known reason certainly nothing I had done.I just signed up for another Gmail acct. Of course I could not get my saved emails etc.
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Old 3 Feb 2020, 03:54 AM   #6
Dutchie007
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TenFour View Post
There are no "Gmail reps" to speak to on the phone unless you have a G Suite business account. For regular Gmail the only help is via the online help documents and via email. If someone says they are Gmail account help they are scamming you. The only way to recover a Gmail account typically is to use the online account recovery option when you try to log in.
I confirm that. Back in 2011 i had a similar problem with my main Gmail account and was locked out for 6 days...a true pain in the A....
I could only email with them..no phone calls whatsoever...after 6 days i was able to log in again...and did a password reset. They just asked me a few specific questions about the emails i received and send 2 weeks before the lock down...i answered them...and i could get back in. Big relieve!

From that day on I searched for alteratives (as i did not want that to happen again)...and found them. Yandex has been a very good substitute for Gmail,...tell you that.
Offcourse with 2 factor authentification things got way more serious which is a good thing.

I dislike Google for its privecy policy...but technicaly spoken its a very good service. Hard to beat. I admit.

AOL?? I would never ever trust them with my daily email traffic..!

Dutchie.
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Old 3 Feb 2020, 03:59 AM   #7
Dutchie007
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sheprd View Post
I have been through this with GMAIL at least twice where they locked my acct for no known reason certainly nothing I had done.I just signed up for another Gmail acct. Of course I could not get my saved emails etc.
Wowww...that does not sound good!! For many pure night mere if you can not retrieve your emails.

D
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Old 3 Feb 2020, 09:06 PM   #8
TenFour
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Many people lose access to their Gmail accounts for various reasons. You must have a backup scheme that works in real time. For example, sync Gmail to another online account and/or use a desktop app like Thunderbird to download a local copy of all emails. Syncing/backing up photos, Docs, and other stuff in Drive is trickier. One thing to watch out for is a change in your phone number. Do not do that without keeping access to the old phone number for a few months. Google often continues to use your old number for authentication long after you have updated it in your account.
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Old 4 Feb 2020, 01:18 AM   #9
FredOnline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TenFour View Post
Google often continues to use your old number for authentication long after you have updated it in your account.
I would assume that would apply only if you have left your old number in your account, and not removed it.

Having 2FA using TOTP with Google Authenticator or similar (I use FreeOTP on my Android 'phone) is important to have, even if you prefer the SMS text message instead.

For myself, when enabling the 2FA via the QR code, I take a screenshot of the QR code and then (after checking that the code produced does work) save that screenshot into Keepass, so I have a secure backup of the QR code. Should I ever change my 'phone, I can then access the QR code, scan it into my new device, and I'm back up and running.
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Old 4 Feb 2020, 01:26 AM   #10
TenFour
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Quote:
I would assume that would apply only if you have left your old number in your account, and not removed it.
Unfortunately, no! Check out some threads on the Gmail help forums. Here's one: https://support.google.com/accounts/...12616828?hl=en

In my case I had changed the phone number in my account and for 2FA, and I had also set up TOTP, alternate email addresses, and the Google prompt for authentication. One day Google decided that I needed to log in again and would only give me the option to have a code sent to the old phone number. Despite having removed the old number previously and having multiple alternate methods set up, Google would only send codes to the old phone number I no longer had access to. I was eventually able to get back in by getting into the account level via my mobile phone, which was still logged in. I had to remove 2FA for awhile in order to be able to use the account. Eventually, after waiting several weeks I went back to setting up 2FA again and it has been fine since.
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Old 5 Feb 2020, 01:14 AM   #11
TenFour
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By the way, I just learned about UpSafe that provides a convenient way to back up your Gmail account. There is a free tier for I think up to 3GB of data, and you can pay $24 per year for up to 350GB of data. https://www.upsafe.com/
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Old 27 Feb 2020, 06:03 AM   #12
mendoau
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Miracles of miracles.....Just for grins I tried to log into my old "locked out" gmail account and guess what!!!!! I got back in. 180 new messages but all my info is back and good to go. I have no clue but am real happy.
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Old 27 Feb 2020, 06:07 AM   #13
TenFour
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Glad you got back in! By the way, I tried UpSafe and it didn't work well and seems to be a victim of Google starting not to allow less secure apps. In any case, I think one of the best ways to back up a Gmail account is to sync it with another account like Outlook.com or a desktop app like Thunderbird. Even if you get locked out you will then still have all your old emails and can carry on.
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