HACKER Q&A
📣 js976

How to Handle Google Lockout Affecting Critical Services?


Last week, I was in the process of transitioning to a new email as my primary email. I had successfully set it up for important services like bank accounts and my Apple ID. I also established a recovery email, but I hadn't added a mobile number yet due to ongoing errors associated with my previous email.

Now, Google has completely locked me out, citing "suspicious activity.", and doesn't let me recover the account without phone number (which was never setup), and has no option to use the recovery email address which I had previously setup (pretty much for this exact scenario). I only had ever used my home Wi-Fi, or my phone's 5G to login to this particular account.

So far, I have used this account for:

    Bank correspondences
    My primary email ID
    Setting up Tailscale
This lockout is particularly troubling as it disrupts access to several critical services. Has anyone here experienced a similar situation? How did you resolve it, and what steps can I take to regain access or prevent such issues in the future?

Any suggestions for other email providers?

  👤 nusl Accepted Answer ✓
Not quite sure of how to get this resolved. I suggest you try a different mail provider when you do regain access though.

Try using a service like Fastmail over Gmail unless you have a really specific reason for using Gmail. Google support is as bad as it gets, and if they nuke your account for whatever reason you’re SOL mostly. Fastmail is smaller, reliable, and will respond to your issues in a reasonable time and manner. There are others but yeah.

This article: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/21/technology/google-surveil... / https://web.archive.org/web/20240101224708/https://www.nytim... scared me off of Google services forever.

“ Mark appealed his case to Google again, providing the police report, but to no avail. After getting a notice two months ago that his account was being permanently deleted..”

👤 cuu508
In a way, you're lucky you only got this far into the migration. What I'd do: visit the bank and fix the email address in person, set up a new Tailscale account, and choose my next email provider carefully.
👤 codegeek
Sometimes, if you wait for a couple of days and try fresh on a different IP/browser, it may work. No guarantees but has happened to me before. Google is finicky like that.