News December 22, 2009

How to Save a Hacked Google Account

Gear Diary How to Save a Hacked Google Account photo

Google is a part of our everyday lives. Someone recently asked me how many of Google’s services I use on a regular basis…I stopped counting at ten.

So what would happen if someone hacked your Google accounts (Gmail, Apps, etc)? What can you do? Are there steps to fix all this?

Well, luckily or unlucky, one of the staff of Digital Inspiration had this happen to him and has posted ten steps for protecting your Google accounts, as well as the directions on how to get your account back.

From the article:

#3. Take a paper and write down the following information about your Google Account. You will need this to verify your identify to Google in case someone else takes over your Google Account and the secondary email address associated with your account.

The month and year when your created your Gmail / Google Account. You can look at the last page of your Gmail Inbox (or go to Sent Items) to get an approximate idea of the date when you created the account.

If you created a Gmail account by invitation, write the email address of the person who first sent you that invite for Gmail. Use a search query like “in:all has invited you to open a free Gmail account” to find that invitation email.

The email addresses of your most frequently emailed contacts (the top 5).

The names of any custom labels that you may have created in your Gmail account.

The day/month/year when you started using various other Google services (like AdSense, Orkut, Blogger, etc.) that are associated with the Google account that you are trying to recover. If you’re not certain about some of the dates, provide your closest estimate*.

Every little bit helps, and even if you dont use a lot of the Google services, its better to be safe than sorry.