BLOGDOG
Your personal cyber security and anti-hacking news
What Should I Do If My Gmail Account Was Hacked?
In 2013, Elie Burzstein published a report that revealed 1 in 4 online accounts gets hacked, and that number is climbing all the time. More recently, close to 300 million online accounts were compromised. 24+ million of those accounts were Gmail, spreading a mass epidemic of fear among internet users everywhere.
Getting your Gmail account hacked, Facebook account hacked, or any account for that matter, is frightening, but it doesn’t have to be devastating. Here’s what to do if you think you’re one of the 24 million affected and how you can keep all your online accounts protected in the future.
Change Your Password
I got my Gmail hacked! Now what? If you’re lucky enough to still have access to your Gmail account, you need to change the password immediately. This will keep hackers from using the old, hacked password to change details in your account settings.
You can change your Gmail password by clicking here. Choose a strong password that is resistant to hacking. This will involve several layers of complexity including special characters on the keyboard (&^#, etc.), digits (9773, for example), lower and uppercase combos (hRvlM, for example), and words or phrases that are not obvious (like not Love or Money).
Having Your Gmail Account Hacked Puts Your Other Accounts At Risk!
Was my Facebook hacked along with my other accounts? It’s not obvious to everyone, but sharing your password between your various accounts is one of the easiest ways to help hackers really screw you over. Once the hackers have got your password, they can hop from one account to the next with the same password, accessing all of your accounts with ease. Use a different password for each account, and keep track of them all with a password manager like one of these. LastPass is a good option as well.
Clean House
There’s no time to lose. If someone has access to your account, it’s only a matter of time before they find all of your personal data and exploit it for their benefit. Use a tool like this one to sweep your entire account for any sensitive information that might be stored there and remove it safely. This free tool helps find passwords, banking details, and more, and alert you if any other data is view able in the future.
Check Latest Activity
Take a look at your activity log to see if there’s been activity when you are not on your account. Scroll down to the bottom of the page, click Details at the very bottom right corner (it will be a link underneath the Last account activity: X minutes ago), and peruse the list of recent activity on your Gmail account. Here you’ll see what type of device was used to access your account, where the account was accessed, and at what time.
Look and see if there’s anything you don’t recognize, whether it’s an unusual device or a time when you know you weren’t using your account. Weird activities logged is a good indication that someone is accessing your account without your permission.
Review Recovery Information
Go to your Account page, and review the recovery options you have listed. There should be a familiar email address and phone number listed. If an unfamiliar name or number is listed, change this immediately. Regardless, you should change the security question. Note: Don’t forget to check that the recovery email account is secure too.
Review Other Important Account Details
Once you’ve covered the vital details like password and recovery info, it’s a good idea to do a full sweep of your account details to make sure nothing else was tampered with. Under your Gmail Settings, go through the tabs and check things like:
- Under the General tab, check the Signature and Vacation responder.
- Under your Account tab, review the “Send mail as” setting.
- Under the Filters tab, check that new filters haven’t been added. Often hackers will set up a filter for your bank to send emails directly to their email address instead of yours, disable notifications of money transfers, etc.
- Under the Forwarding and POP/IMAP tab, verify that no emails are being forwarded.
Get Help Immediately If You Can No Longer Access Your Account
If you can’t get into your Gmail account at all, that probably means someone has changed your password, and you need to act fast. Choose the “I’m having other problems signing in” option.
You’ve settled your Gmail account, but the problem doesn’t stop there. Since hackers use one web account to access another, you need to make sure the rest of your accounts are safe as well.
- Check your other Internet accounts including social media, banking, photo sharing, and the like to see if they’ve been hit, and change the passwords regardless. Facebook is a popular one, so if you think you have a Facebook hacked account, read up on how to protect your FB account. Don’t forget to manage your passwords with something like TrueKey to keep everything organized.
- Run and maintain an updated antivirus on all your devices. It’s so easy for a hacker to sneak a virus onto your computer or phone, and then no amount of password changing or protective layers will help. Here are some top quality antivirus programs that you can get for free. Even Macs can be susceptible, so don’t go unprotected. And don’t forget to protect your mobile devices with good mobile antivirus as well.
- Two-step verification is one of the strongest layers of defense you can use. It requires anyone who wants to access your Gmail account from a new device to enter a verification code that is sent to your phone only. Without this code, access is denied. Set up two-step (also known as two-factor) verification like this:
- go to your account login page.
- Turn on two-step verification under the Sign in & Security section. Now a code will be sent to your phone whenever anyone attempts to log into your account. You can use the Remember Me function to make login more convenient from your regularly used devices
Protect yourself before you get hacked again using a reliable protection app
Finally, your fears of having your Gmail account hacked again can be put to rest by getting LogDog for all your devices. you can use the app for iOS or Android, so you can cover all your base. A multi-account protection app like LogDog is on the lookout 24/7 for signs of unusual activity. If suspicious activity is picked up, you will immediately receive a notification alert. This enables you to change your password straight away, before a hacker has a chance to create havoc to your business or private life.
See what Twitter users think about us:
A new hack... LogDog Checks Popular Cloud Services for Suspicious Logins http://t.co/zYEh8WRFSL via @lifehacker
— Nia Neuman, SPHR (@NiaNeuman) January 18, 2015
This is brilliant! -> LogDog prevents your Facebook and Gmail from being hacked #cybersecurity #infosec @logdogapp https://t.co/LKf9gvNHfw
— Kenneth Holley (@kennethholley) July 1, 2016
60 thoughts on “What Should I Do If My Gmail Account Was Hacked?”
Leave a Reply
Thanks for this it helped me a lot!!! Also downloaded Logdog so I will be warned when this happens again so I can change my password quicker. Thanks!!!!!!
Happy to help!
my gmail account has been hacked for 5 days sir help me how do i recover my gmail back.
My gmail account was hacked and I forgot my password
I Have About 1 Week With My Account Hacked. My Password Phone Number and recovery email have all been changed What Can I Do?
me too what did you do?? these pages dont seem to be relevant when the hacker has full access and changed all the security questions!!!
Hey sir my Gmail is hack please help me
How do you get your emails and contacts back?
Hi Rajan,
Here are two articles that may help with your question:
– From Google: https://support.google.com/mail/answer/1069522?hl=en
– From CNET: http://www.cnet.com/how-to/how-to-restore-deleted-gmail-contacts/
Good luck!
URL’s to other companies… When your app is supposed to prevent this. Then you’ve got the audacity to say “GOOD LUCK!” What a bunch of smug people you are. Passing the buck off to someone else instead of manning up and taking some responsibility….
Hi Todd,
I think there were some kind of misunderstanding…you are more then welcome to contact us at info@getlogdog.com
Looking forward hearing from you!
D
Imy not getting my emails on Gmail. I believe my account has been compromised. Can u help me?
hi there
I just want to check what can be the reason that the recently used device shows a different location when i have never been there. I tried changing the password and it still shows that the activity was done in that location. Please help. Thank you.
Hi, what do you mean? Could you send us more details to info@getlogdog.com
Thanks!
I’m having the same issue but its 2 locations on 2 apps & 3 on another and 1 on another. What gives? I’ve wasted NINE hours today changing email passwords and Facebook and twitter passwords. Pure hell!
Hi again, please send us more info to info@getlogdog.com and our tech team will take care of it ASAP.
Thank you. You’ve pointed out so many things I’ve been wondering about for yrs since I got hacked badly a couple yrs ago. Still don’t feel secure. Never catch the malware. Have seious passwords and am very careful but don’t know how they hack my gmail account. If I take my pic down, does that offer some form of safey? I heard it may.
my name is deepak sharma. my gmail account is deepak.sharma121005@gmail.com ..someone has hacked it from Indonesia..with another device i cant login now…even recovery phone no. is also removed
Hi Deepak, if someone hacked your gmail, I strongly recommend to follow all this steps in this post.
What if someone hacked you gmail to the point you can’t get I’m your account
You should open this form and select “I’m having other problems signing in” to try recover your Gmail account
So I’m having a problem with my gmail accnt, my ex boyfriend changed my password & he also put hes phone number as the 2 step verification code, I have done the recovery form various times but I don’t know what else to do, also the number is no longer in service, please help
I think the best way will be to contact Gmail directly, did you try that?
How to contact gmail directly. I got hacked so badly. Everything has been removed from my account like my recovery email, phone number. But i need my account back any how. I made some decent request to the hacker too but I gives no care. My totally messed without my email account, please help me to redirect straight to gmail. I can give them Evey evidence they need to claim that account is mine thanks
Does anyone know how to recover your contact list after your email has been hacked. I can no longer
get into my account to recover my files.
I am still been in hacked
My name was chaged on my email and my photo also i changes my password what can i do to fix it
Someone put josh estrella my name is yesenia estrella
help my gmail was hacked 7 hours ago and i have to do a power point tomorrow!!Help!! plssssss
forgot my gmail acccount password
and i forgot my recovery email and ph num also what will u do plz tell me
Hi. They hacked my computer and downloaded 480 plus files- they were able to bypass my anti virus app by changing the settings on the anti virus app- that is , the anti virus “skipped ” those files because they’re password protected “.
I don’t know if my gmail is hacked. I’m totally lost and have 3 other computers and my cell phone synced (although I never sync it but i suppose they do sync) with that computer. ..and I’m lost. Any suggestions? I hate these mother-effers. Seriously, what do I do? This is an ongoing problem. I do not have Facebook accounts, Instagram, Twitter or any of that junk because of hacking. I keep 0 passwords online. I deleted my Google plus acct- never used it, I don’t share anything I tentionally except a comment once in awhile. But I think that’s it. If I comment, someone might not like it and destroys my computer, etc. Can you guess who? Think about it. ..Any suggestions for this? A fix and any Further prevention methods from these Freaks would be great.
All you need to do is to use a common sense just think it who is doing this?the hackers and why did they do this? cause they being paid to do it,so why not get a hacker to get yours back for you and then you change everything that needs changing and then always contact your hacker for protection purpose or you can contact me on cooperatehack at gmail dot com for help.
I was hacked and the hacker from Indonesia has changed my recovery email and phone. They also accessed my Facebook. How can I get my account back? Google states I can fill out a form and maybe know something in 3-5 days. I’m afraid all my emails will be gone by then.
Damn angry. Cannot recover Google password despite Google automated password control. Google have also dismissed/lost my current mobile phone contact details for step2 verification process and provided me with an unrecognizable contact number. I do not believe for one second that some random stranger has hijacked my account as do not have any social networking friends to do this – only Google. Hope they read this post and give me back my account asap.
Hi
I am unable to sign into my gmail account…i believe the account was hacked. i have only used it a few times and couldn’t remember my password. There is no “form”. When i click the”this form” link you have above, it’s not a form and there’s no where to choose “I’m having other problems signing in”. It just creates an endless loop -with no resolution. Is there even anyone to call for gmail help?
hello sir some one hacked my gmail account and change number and passwoed wt i wil do sir pls help
hi, my gmail account have been hacked,plz help me
Hi, my gmail has been hacked, what should I do about it to try and recover it?
hi guyss! my gmail account was hacked and i lost my every information including my Clash of Clan Game…. so if any who can retake my account from the bitches hacker… help me pls…
Someone have changed my gmail password & also my recovery phone number too.Now what can I do?? plz help me”
my gmail was hacked and they changed my password, deleted my security questions, and removed my backup email is there anyway to recover it?
Hey,
OMG, My gmail account has been deleted by unknown person using other device. So now I can’t sign in. Have there are any ways to check last login IP or location history of my gmail? Please let me know what should I do?
My Gmail account has been hacked and the password has been changed I can get in HELP
HELP someone hacked my Gmail account and change password I can’t get it back
my account is hacked
and i am no way getting it recovered
what should i do??
help please
There is nothing you can do. Give up!!!Just suck it up and move on. If you think you know exactly who is hacking you…. Go to their house and kill them. You can just break their fingers but death would be better
Hi…….my gmail account and my phone device is also hacked…..i cant get my gmail back…please help me
My Gmail password is blocked how get my Gmail password
my id has hacked please find my account please
My account have been hacked I lost everything
My main gmail account has been hacked.. The number, recovery email and anything has been changed. How can I get it back. Pls help me.
My email account is hacked last 3 days back, we are trying to use the same but not succeed, now we are not able to use with my last passward changed.
Please block my gmail account some body hack my account was change my pasword and recovery
My google account has been hacked and i have no longer access to my account. I am using my other account at the moment. All alternative options like phone numbers is changed to that persons number. This is my account “ceejae1798@gmail.com”
Please i really need help. Below is the account that i am curretly using
how can i get my account again some one has changed my passport
was able to raise my credit scores excellently through the help of a referal in a blog , contact them if you require any credit repair , thier services are fast, legit & very direct. After fighting with so called credit repair services. Alphacredittunnel@cyberservices.com. I dont know how they operate but they did it guys. I am seeing it as illusion or something. Better reach them if you need a credit repairs and co. It will blow your mind.
Hi there
My colleagues seems to know everything that happens in my life, how much money I have in the bank, whatsup messages and know about every conversation that I make on my phone and they know both ways of the conversation as well as the conversation that took place at my house and wherever I go. I have tried everything I can to get sweepers to sweep my house but the matter is getting worse.
hello my gmail account was hacked and i cant access it any longer he changed my account phone number, recovery email, password, everything. how can i get my account back? can you help me?