#change my google password

[storks-notlarks]

I fell under an evil spell (long covid) and lost my memory (brain fog), and now this mythical creature (laptop) has asked me a riddle (login screen) that I cannot answer (password that I didn't think I needed to write down)

[13eyond13]

the funniest thing about having to report fraud on my credit card today was the girl on the phone listing all my transactions to me to see if i recognized them and literally 100% of them were all media purchases liiiiike wow I really have 1 hobby and 1 hobby only don't I

[flarefloofer]

Account recovery be like:

"Yo I forgot my password, Google"

"Right, yeah, click here to fix it"

*clicks*

"Okay so to confirm it's you I'm gonna need your password"

[guinevereslancelot]

guy who hacked my venmo only to find that i had no money three years ago 🤝 guy who hacked my paypal only to find i have $16.47 yesterday

[irritablepoe]

okay i think the thesis is mostly edited now at least, so i can add stuff now and then i'll see how far i'll get?

[quinitail]

just tried log into my twitter account to start posting my art there again and apparently i’m suspended lol???

i’m submitting one appeal because i’m pretty sure it was suspended for not being an active account- but it’s such a shitty platform that they better fix this first try or i’m just gonna give up on it altogether

[murcielagatito]

im going to actually kill someone

[caramelmochacrow]

yeah no. im. im gonna need to mkae a new email just for tumblr and logging in my. like. social media stuff i cant--

[dmumt]

if you're going to hack my soundcloud can you at least listen to good music man wtf....

[loser-brain]

So, Google just released a new way to mess with everyone.

Google accounts with inactivity (for 2 years) will be deleted.

This is a positive and a negative honestly.

Positive: Finally, accounts that were just made solely to either have free trials or just to make many accounts to follow your favorite on. Are finally going to disappear. In other words, allowing other people to use that email name.

Negative: I have an old email that is holding information. Because of storage issues. I'm not paying extra for storage. Fuck off with that.

So how can you prevent your Google account from deletions?

Enter to your Gmail once a year (the simplest way to keep it active), use google drive, watch YouTube videos (link with that Gmail), share a (google) photo, use Google searches with that Gmail, read or send emails with that Gmail and finally, use the Google third-party sign-in feature with that Google account.

There are exceptions to this new policy.

"Examples include: a Google Account with YouTube channels, videos or comments; an account that has a gift card with a monetary balance; or an account that has a published application, for example, one that hosts an app on the Google Play store..."

For every single Google account, if your account is eligible for deletion, will be sent a warning email by Google informing you that the account will be deleted on whatever date has been chosen (for now every "inactive account and any content in it will be eligible for deletion from December 1, 2023"). If you have a recovery email, two emails will be sent. One email will be sent to the account that is eligible to be deleted and another to the recovery email.

This is their way of making it easier for you to keep that account active.

"Our priority is to make it as easy as possible for you to keep your account active, if you want to, and we’ll ensure you have adequate notice before any account is impacted by this change. So before an account is deleted, Google will send email notifications to the Google Account and its recovery email (if one has been provided)."

This policy was updated yesterday (July 28, 2023, around 8:01am EST).

My guess is that Dec 1st, 2023 is when the clock starts. But idk and I highly recommend everyone go to your inactive accounts just so they can be deemed safe from the purge. Also, recommend making a recovery email if that Gmail is important to you and needs to be kept alive.

An idea of mine but will not recommend it unless someone can vouch it's a good idea. Make a scheduled email and have that sent to your account like a 'hey future me' kind of thing. As long as the account is active and is sending emails it should be fine right. However, I think Google is more seeing if you are actually checking your Gmail or using your Google account. But hey, it's a good idea, right?

[joetastic2739]

Someone accessed my Gmail 2 days ago, compromising my linked accounts like Twitter and YouTube. Here's how it happened, why I fell for it, and what you can learn to avoid making the same mistake:

The scam I fell victim to was a cookie hijack. The hacker used malicious software to steal my browser cookies (stuff like autofill, auto sign in, etc), allowing them to sign in to my Gmail and other accounts, completely bypassing my 2FA and other security protocols.

A few days ago, I received a DM from @Rachael_Borrows, who claimed to be a manager at @Duolingo. The account seemed legitimate. It was verified, created in 2019, and had over 1k followers, consistent with other managers I’d seen at the time n I even did a Google search of this person and didnt find anything suspicious.

She claimed that @Duolingo wanted me to create a promo video, which got me excited and managed to get my guard down. After discussing I was asked to sign a contract and at app(.)fastsigndocu(.)com. If you see this link, ITS A SCAM! Do NOT download ANY files from this site.

Unfortunately, I downloaded a file from the website, and it downloaded without triggering any firewall or antivirus warnings. Thinking it was just a PDF, I opened it. The moment I did, my console and Google Chrome flashed. That’s when I knew I was in trouble. I immediately did an antivirus scan and these were some of the programs it found that were added to my PC without me knowing:

The thing about cookie hijacking is that it completely bypasses 2FA which should have been my strongest line of defense. I was immediately signed out of all my accounts and within a minute, they changed everything: passwords, 2FA, phone, recovery emails, backup codes, etc.

I tried all methods but hit dead ends trying to recover them. Thankfully, my Discord wasn’t connected, so I alerted everyone I knew there. I also had an alternate account, @JLCmapping, managed by a friend, which I used to immediately inform @/TeamYouTube about the situation

Meanwhile, the hackers turned my YouTube channel into a crypto channel and used my Twitter account to spam hundreds of messages, trying to use my image and reputation to scam more victims

Thankfully, YouTube responded quickly and terminated the channel. Within 48 hours, they locked the hacker out of my Gmail and restored my access. They also helped me recover my channel, which has been renamed to JoetasticOfficial since Joetastic_ was no longer available.

Since then, I’ve taken several steps to secure my accounts and prevent this from happening again. This has been a wake-up call to me, and now I am more cautious around people online. I hope sharing it helps others avoid falling victim to similar attacks. (End)

(side note) Around this time, people also started to impersonate me on TikTok and YouTube. With my accounts terminated, anyone searching for "Joetastic" would only find the imposter's profiles. I’m unsure whether they are connected or if it’s just an unfortunate coincidence, but it made the situation even more stressful.

[sonicenvy]

hate how when I get forced to change my work email password every couple of months I get banned from signing in to my email for a couple of days by google. very annoying because I'm blocked from accessing my calendar on my phone which I really need to not lose my mind about where I need to be and what I'm supposed to be doing. grrrrr

[lcrk]

.

[cleolinda]

Phone scam gothic

So my mom sits down and starts telling me about two weird-ass phone calls she had today—she was returning a missed call, and the woman who answered just… sobbed for a minute. I’m sitting here asking, like, a whole minute? Nothing else, just sobbing? Who did you THINK you were calling back?

“United Healthcare, they have my Medicare plan. They’ve been calling me for weeks without leaving any voicemail.”

(Are you sure it was United Healthcare? “It was the same number that’s on my card, I checked, and that’s who the caller ID said it was.”)

Are you sure it was a whole minute? Did YOU say anything?

“Yes, like sixty seconds while I kept going ‘Hello? Hello?’ It sounded like she was having a nervous breakdown, I kept waiting to see if she’d tell me what was even wrong. Finally I just hung up.”

And then my mom turned right around and called back again, because she was gonna get to the bottom of this.

This time she got a different woman, perfectly calm, who wanted to set up “your in-home direct patient care home health visit.”

At this point (at this point?) I’m staring, because no one here currently has anyone coming to the house to help with any kind of medical care. My mom might honestly be the healthiest member of the household, but even I don’t use any home services, herniated discs and all. “Did they have you… confused with someone else?”

“No, she repeated my full name and phone number back to me.”

This lady then started ARGUING with my mother. Why don’t you want us to come to your house to manage your direct patient care? Don’t you need home health care to be managed? Why don’t you need home health care? Why would you not want home health care? “I JUST KIND OF HAVE HIGH CHOLESTEROL?” But don’t you want us to manage your home health care? “WHY DO YOU NEED TO COME TO MY HOUSE TO MANAGE HEALTH CARE I DON’T USE?”

My mom finally hung up on this lady as well, without giving her any real information.

The more we talked about it, the more things we started to notice:

I was incredibly creeped out by the unsolicited use of the word “manage,” for some reason. Very sinister “write me into your will” vibes for some reason—I don’t know what these people want, but they’re gonna get you to sign something over.

My mom got especially stuck on “WHY DO YOU NEED TO COME TO MY HOUSE?!”

My mom has used home health services before… years ago, before she was on Medicare. But this company wouldn’t know about that. However, if you’re on Medicare, you’re over 65. Having not ever dealt with my mother before, someone calling a Medicare user might be playing the odds that a person over 65 is 1) in frail health and 2) old enough to get easily confused.

Fair play to my mom, she’s the one who thought of number spoofing. I’m so busy not answering the phone ever and arranging all my medical communications to happen through passworded portals that I didn’t think of it.

Hey, are you guys, like… holding someone hostage…?

So at this point, I google “United Healthcare scam.”

The “health insurance counselor”

This fraudster will offer help navigating the health insurance marketplace for a fee, capitalizing on people’s confusion about the state-based health exchanges created through the Affordable Care Act.

What to know

This sort of assistance is indeed available and is legitimate, but the people who offer it – also known as “navigators” – aren’t allowed to charge for their services. Also, remember that people with Medicare coverage don’t need to use the state health exchanges. The exchanges are for people under the age of 65, who are looking to enroll in an individual health plan.

Change “navigate” to “manage,” and I think this is it, although the lady on the phone never mentioned any fees. Either my mom didn’t let her get that far, or this is the point of actually getting into someone’s house: persuading them face-to-face to pay something, and potentially refusing to leave until the scammer has worn their target down.

Medicare does not make unsolicited phone calls.

Okay, so it was a scam no matter what it was about. As far as I’m concerned, my mom should contact Actual United Healthcare about it, and I’m here to spread the good word of Never Believing Anyone on the Phone 2k24. I don’t know what to tell you about the lady having the nervous breakdown though.

[vilevampire]

why did tumblr log me out

[seasaalttrio]

okay seriously what is up with shutterstock

i never made an account or got a confirmation email for someone else making an account with my email, so what’s up with these emails?