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Gmail password does not work or account hacked Report abuse

bkc56
Top Contributor
4/9/11
If you go to https://mail.google.com/ and are unable to log into your account, the following instructions apply to you.

Note:  you can NOT recover your account by posting to this forum.
  You must use one of the methods listed below.

If your password does not work, use the "Can't access your account?" link which will direct you to do a password reset:

     https://www.google.com/accounts/recovery?service=mail

If you can not do a password reset, you will be directed to the Account Recovery Form (You need to fill out these forms as completely as possible with information as accurate as you can make it and wait at least 24 hours to hear from Google):

     https://www.google.com/support/accounts/bin/request.py?ara=1

     Or the same form for accounts with 2-step verification enabled:

     https://www.google.com/support/accounts/bin/request.py?contact_type=two_step_recovery

If you are told the account does not exist, it may have been deleted by the hacker, so use the Account Recovery Form to try and recover it:

     https://www.google.com/support/accounts/bin/request.py?ara=1

If you are instructed to supply a mobile number to receive a SMS code, you need to follow the process as described here:

     http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/gmail/thread?tid=69a33682180a6d01&hl=en

If the account is disabled, under maintenance, or locked down, you will be directed to the proper form or provided a link to contact Google.


Again, posts to this forum are not read as part of account recovery and will not help you get your account back.  You must use one of the above methods.  The only reason to post here is if the actual process is broken.  For example one of the links does not work, the page does not load, the submit button doesn't work, or other similar problems.

The following article contains more detail about the process, a FAQ, hints to help you be more successful as well as information on how to re-secure your account when you recover it.

     http://knol.google.com/k/the-c-man/how-to-recover-a-hacked-or-compromised/3p9k5zywla4ku/7

The following is an even more extensive account security checklist.

     http://mail.google.com/support/bin/static.py?hl=en&page=checklist.cs&tab=29488

Reply 1 of 1

bkc56
Top Contributor
4/9/11
There are many reasons why you may loose access to your account and need the above information.

Perhaps you have lost/forgotten your password.  This could happen for reasons like:
* You haven't used the account for a while and simply forgot.
* Your browser auto-filled the password and something happened to reset that information.
* The store where you purchased your mobile device setup your account and never told you the password.
* Someone else changed your password (which leads to the following).

Perhaps there are signs the account was compromised (hacked) like:
* Your contacts complain of receiving spam from you.
* Other accounts you own were also compromised.
* You realize you responded to a phishing message of some kind.
* You noticed spam in your Sent Mail or failed messages bounced back before loosing access to the account.
* You recovered your account but lost access again before you could re-secure it.
* You logged into your account and discovered all your e-mail history and/or contacts deleted.

Perhaps the account no longer exists due to:
* You deleted it, and later realized you need it because some other account/service is linked to it.
* You did not use the account for 9 months or more and it went dormant (perhaps being closed/deleted).
* The account was compromised and deleted by a hacker.

Those are just a few example, but they all have the same solution:  the steps in the post above.  Posting to this forum will not recover your account.  The only way to get your account back is to use the appropriate form for the specific situation as outlined above.
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