Gmail Disabled from Use on Holiday

[Swallowed My Cellphone]

Oh, fer the love of f**k!

So I got a great deal on a flights and my wife and I went to visit my family in the U.S for the Lbaor Day weekend. Of course I logged into Gmail to send my mom a quick note to tell her we'd arrived safely.

Then I logged in today to send a message to someone else.

Because I logged in with a U.S. IP and then with a Canadian IP, it was considered "suspicious activity" and my account was disabled. To restore it, they want my phone number (private unlisted) which they are not going to get without a gun pointed to my head.

Anyone know if it will be going back to normal eventually? Or should I just kiss all my data good-bye?

[Mops]

If you had configured, in Gmail, an e-mail address at another provider for password recovery (as I did) you might be able to persuade them to use that for verifying your identity.

[Balthisar]

Commenting to subscribe to see how this turns out, 'cos it might happen to me. I have a Mexican IP everywhere in Mexico, except at work, where we have a Michigan IP address.

[Al Bundy]

This is interesting because Gmail must be doing something with IP checking that other email servers are not doing. My niece has her Yahoo information hijacked and everybody on her address book receives scam mail from Asia. My Gmail account recognizes that the mail is not coming from her regular IP and flags the mail as spam every time. Meanwhile, Hotmail and my main ISP never catch it. In short, Gmail is checking IPs and others are not. Their rules may obviously reject some good mail.

[Swallowed My Cellphone]

Originally Posted by Mops

If you had configured, in Gmail, an e-mail address at another provider for password recovery (as I did) you might be able to persuade them to use that for verifying your identity.

I filled out there forms but I've had the account so long there's stuff I don't remember. They ask for the month and year of the creation date. I have no idea, sometime between 2000 and 2004 is a best guess!

I could fill out stuff like, most recent successful log-in, regular contacts, but it's completely absurd to me that you can have your access shut down for legitimate use while on holiday! Isn't that the entire point of the service - email you can access anywhere?

[Baron Greenback]

Originally Posted by Swallowed My Cellphone

I could fill out stuff like, most recent successful log-in, regular contacts, but it's completely absurd to me that you can have your access shut down for legitimate use while on holiday! Isn't that the entire point of the service - email you can access anywhere?

Have a look on your Gmail webpage (when you get back in), down at the bottom there's a last account activity thing. Check that out, I got temporarily locked out because a whole load of spam was sent from my account from a mobile in another country.

[Baron Greenback]

Originally Posted by Swallowed My Cellphone

To restore it, they want my phone number (private unlisted) which they are not going to get without a gun pointed to my head.

Cell phone number? They just want to send a confirmation code in a text, they don't do anything with it.

[Eats_Crayons]

Originally Posted by Baron Greenback

Cell phone number? They just want to send a confirmation code in a text, they don't do anything with it.

What happens if you don't have a cellphone or would prefer not to give your phone number to such a huge company that has no direct human contact or accountability? I would never do such a thing either. I'm familiar with the way Google customer service works, and Yahoo too for that matter. You fill out an on-line form and either a robot or human parses it for keywords and then they send a generic, and often thoroughly inapplicable, email in response that fails to address the problem. The useless message probably directs you to an FAQ, then you get to click "No this was not helpful." Then you get to the same form you filled out the first time. If by some miracle, you get a phone number to call, it directs you to there website, and round and round it goes.

Good luck Celly!

[Kimmy_Gibbler]

Originally Posted by Eats_Crayons

What happens if you don't have a cellphone or would prefer not to give your phone number to such a huge company that has no direct human contact or accountability?

Guess you're shit outta luck.

[BigT]

I was under the impression that IP lockout was an option you had to choose. Maybe I'm thinking of Facebook.

If you're desperate, you could buy a prepaid phone. But I'm pretty sure you can work it out just by talking with them on the phone. But realize they'll have your number just as easily if you do that.

[MC$E]

Seriously... it's Google. Do you honestly think they don't already have your number somewhere?

[Eats_Crayons]

Originally Posted by MC$E

Seriously... it's Google. Do you honestly think they don't already have your number somewhere?

Trying to google my own number yields absolutely nothing and googling my own very unusual name yields very little information about me either. If you choose not to provide information to public databases, it's not terribly hard to keep your information out of their main system. Secondly, willingly providing your number to an enterprise can, in many jurisdictions, be "establishing a business relationship" which means they (and/or their partners) can have telemarketers call you, since you've implicitly agreed to it. Google uses 'bots for most functions which means there's an enormous lack of accountability.

I hope the OP comes back with an update. I'm curious to know if it was really a compromised account or a false positive. I've had my Yahoo account for over 15 years and have used it all over the world and never had a problem. It would be interesting if logging into Gmail while on holiday was the cause. It would suck for all those kids backpacking through Europe if that was the case.

[Markxxx]

Get a Google Voice Telephone number.

[even sven]

Google does not routinely lock down accounts simply for logging in from another country. In the last few months I've used Google in several countries without incident. Your wife's account probably was actually compromised. Beyond protecting you, Google has a strong interest in making sure their infrastructure is not used to send spam. Since they are providing a free service, it seems like that is their prerogative.

I imagine that only an extremely small number of people refuse to use their phone number or can't find a phone number to use. Google can't plan for every contingency!

[Colophon]

Originally Posted by even sven

Google does not routinely lock down accounts simply for logging in from another country. In the last few months I've used Google in several countries without incident. Your wife's account probably was actually compromised.

I agree with this. "Logging in with a US IP and then a Canadian IP" is hardly suspicious behaviour - thousands of people must do that every week.

I have never had a problem using Gmail from abroad - in the past month I have checked my mail from five different countries and never been asked any security questions. Facebook, on the other hand, made me go through a ridiculous "identify these friends from tagged photos" pop quiz when I tried to log in using my iPod Touch from a public WiFi hotspot in Guernsey. (I somehow passed, despite three of the photos not having a visible face at all!)

Edit: Seems I'm not alone in finding Facebook's little games ridiculous...

[drachillix]

Originally Posted by Baron Greenback

Cell phone number? They just want to send a confirmation code in a text, they don't do anything with it.

Seconded, Google is pretty much one of the most upstanding net companies WRT shitty behavior like selling off your info. Not gonna happen.

[Swallowed My Cellphone]

Bah-humbug! Well, I borrowed a relative's Gmail account so I could log in to the Help Forum, and someone there sent me to a link to a helpful bloggy type thing, that had links to the recovery form. That's what Gmail should have offered me from the get-go with the option of choosing SMS or phone - bit no, the form had never been offered to me, I had to go on a hunt for it (and you only see it when you click radio buttons, it's not visible when you first peruse the page). A bunch of hours later, my access was restored.

Yes, indeed. It seems my out-of-country use that triggered the suspension. Everything was exactly as I'd left it. Nothing in my sent items, trash or inbox to indicate anyone was using my account but me. My recent activity log showed the log-ins as: Me, me, me, me in U.S., me - lockdown!

Originally Posted by drachillix

Seconded, Google is pretty much one of the most upstanding net companies WRT shitty behavior like selling off your info. Not gonna happen.

Don't care. I don't give out private unlisted information that isn't necessary.

Tell you what, give me your credit card number. I'm a good upstanding guy who would never abuse it, I promise! Double-dog swear on my dead grand-daddy's grave, cross my heart and hope to die.

No?

[Martin Hyde]

Unfortunately some people are downright paranoid about their personal information. Do you know the real truth of it? Someone having your phone number isn't a very big deal at all.

If you've ever bought anything online then many companies already have far more information than your telephone number on file. Google has been slammed in the press some recently, but by and large being afraid to give them your telephone number is survivalist mountain-compound level paranoia.

But, luckily we live in a world where you're allowed to be survivalist mountain-compound paranoid, so if that's your preference it's certainly no one's place to tell you to live otherwise. I would say that being afraid to give out your phone number because you somehow think it's a ground-breaking piece of personal information is ludicrous.

Equating it to a credit card number is equally ludicrous. While without an expiration date a credit card number is "difficult/impossible" to use, there are obviously big problems with giving out your credit card number to a random individual. However I wouldn't be afraid at all to buy something from Google using my credit card number. The damage done to a big company like Google if its payment systems were compromised would be vastly larger than whatever minor damage I would suffer if my personal credit card was compromised (especially since compromised credit cards can be resolved typically in a manner much more painless than information-theft prevention/insurance salesmen would like you to know.)

Finally, asking someone to give you their personal credit card number is a terrible piss-poor debate tactic. How about offer to exchange phone numbers? I actually bet a lot of people would have no problem at all giving their phone number out to a random person on the internet. Random people call my cell phone all the time, no skin off my back if one of them found it on the internet.

[Swallowed My Cellphone]

Originally Posted by Martin Hyde

Unfortunately some people are downright paranoid about their personal information. Do you know the real truth of it? Someone having your phone number isn't a very big deal at all.

We have really good reasons for keeping our phone numbers and addresses private and unlisted and it has nothing to do with "paranoia".

[beowulff]

Originally Posted by Swallowed My Cellphone

We have really good reasons for keeping our phone numbers and addresses private and unlisted and it has nothing to do with "paranoia".

I'm sure the secret service would be happy to give you yet another identity...

[Darth Panda]

Originally Posted by Swallowed My Cellphone

Don't care. I don't give out private unlisted information that isn't necessary.

Tell you what, give me your credit card number. I'm a good upstanding guy who would never abuse it, I promise! Double-dog swear on my dead grand-daddy's grave, cross my heart and hope to die.

No?

You've never written your cell phone number in an email from your Gmail account?

[Reply]

Originally Posted by Swallowed My Cellphone

We have really good reasons for keeping our phone numbers and addresses private and unlisted and it has nothing to do with "paranoia".

I bet it's annoying when Google calls and your whole stomach buzzes.

[J Cubed]

Originally Posted by Swallowed My Cellphone

We have really good reasons for keeping our phone numbers and addresses private and unlisted and it has nothing to do with "paranoia".

Then why are you using sending and receiving your email using the webmail application from a giant faceless corporation that you don't trust?

[Swallowed My Cellphone]

Originally Posted by Darth Panda

You've never written your cell phone number in an email from your Gmail account?

Nope. Not my address either. For stuff like deliveries it's my office address and phone number (which has an extension and doesn't work for the Gmail thingy which is done by robot).

Originally Posted by beowulff

I'm sure the secret service would be happy to give you yet another identity...

Actually, it's not even an issue about my identity. The issue is with family members in law enforcement and CPS. My aunt's family has never had their address listed in a public directory because (due to an unusual last name) there was such a real risk that some very angry person would show up on their doorstep. It was highly discouraged for any of her colleagues to allow their addresses to be publicly listed for that reason. Her office was fire-bombed in the late 1980s.

In the mid-1990s her husband died, and some of us were listed in the newspaper obit:"... he is sadly missed by Nephew Cellphone and Niece Cellphone..." and my sister and I (and possibly anyone who shared our much more common last name) started getting threatening phone calls at all hours of the day and night and there was some property damage at my sister's place. (They're pretty sure it's one particular person, but there's not much they can do about it.)

Our land line is under my wife's name and is unlisted. The cellphone is unlisted.

Originally Posted by J Cubed

Then why are you using sending and receiving your email using the webmail application from a giant faceless corporation that you don't trust?

Because nothing in my email is likely to cause the above issue.

[Darth Panda]

XKCD

Both obligatory and apt.

ETA: the punchline, not the setup...

[Swallowed My Cellphone]

Originally Posted by Darth Panda

XKCD

Both obligatory and apt.

ETA: the punchline, not the setup...

Wait, was that for the "Email Hacked" thread and how important it is to use different passwords?

[Darth Panda]

Originally Posted by Swallowed My Cellphone

Wait, was that for the "Email Hacked" thread and how important it is to use different passwords?

No, the Google punchline in relation to the OP's concern

[Swallowed My Cellphone]

Originally Posted by Darth Panda

No, the Google punchline in relation to the OP's concern

I never expressed much of a concern about Google being evil, I just do not give out my unlisted number. I do object however, to the way that Gmail dealt with the issue. I wasn't being offered an alternative and that really pisses me off. It also pissed me off that with the request there was no clarification of their privacy policy WRT the way they use SMS. That was something I had to search for.

[Disheavel]

Originally Posted by Swallowed My Cellphone

I do object however, to the way that Gmail dealt with the issue. I wasn't being offered an alternative and that really pisses me off. It also pissed me off that with the request there was no clarification of their privacy policy WRT the way they use SMS. That was something I had to search for.

I have to think that it is time for you to purchase (and run?) your own email server. They are providing a free service, as others have said, and you are not happy. So you are getting what you pay for. I recommend using Gmail for internet orders and throw away addresses but buy a real service and tailor it to your needs for a real email address.

[Darth Panda]

Originally Posted by Swallowed My Cellphone

I never expressed much of a concern about Google being evil, I just do not give out my unlisted number. I do object however, to the way that Gmail dealt with the issue. I wasn't being offered an alternative and that really pisses me off. It also pissed me off that with the request there was no clarification of their privacy policy WRT the way they use SMS. That was something I had to search for.

I didn't mean to imply you actually thought they were evil, I just thought the cartoon was funny and somewhat on point.

[Swallowed My Cellphone]

Originally Posted by Darth Panda

I didn't mean to imply you actually thought they were evil, I just thought the cartoon was funny and somewhat on point.

Oh, OK. I was starting to feel a little under attack. I'm not sure why people think it's sooooo weird that someone doesn't volunteer confidential info when prompted by a robot. It's not even that big a deal, although I found it super annoying that I had to jump through hoops to get to the non-phone alternative.

Originally Posted by Disheavel

I have to think that it is time for you to purchase (and run?) your own email server.

:: ka-chop ::

I recommend using Gmail for internet orders and throw away addresses but buy a real service and tailor it to your needs for a real email address.

I do have and use private email on a secure server. My Gmail account is the "throw-away" account I use for stuff like newsletters, on-line orders, my baseball schedule, Craig's List etc. It's also the account used for family members that I know will send glurge, and the one I use traveling when I'm on unfamiliar computers.

Just because I use it for unimportant things, doesn't make it any less annoying when I get locked out and can't access the unimportant things, like my baseball schedule or the status of my Craig's List sale.

[BigT]

I just don't see why not having your phone number listed would stop someone who was actually bad enough to do more than threaten.

Also, the reason people made a big deal out of it was that you got all fussy about it when people were just trying to help. You attacked drachillix, so Martin Hayde attacked you. That's the way it works around here.