Oops! Accidental Gmail Lockout

I had a weird thing happen to me tonight that has ended up locking me out of my Gmail account for "up to 24 hours".

In my case, my lockout had nothing to do with any of the activities described below, but rather a stuck key on my keyboard. The key had stuck down and I didn't realize it until my Mac started to beep repeatedly. I fixed the key but was presented with the message below.

It is a little distressing that a rather simple computer malfunction can result in a day-long lockout and the fact that there is no appeal process for such a lockout.

This is the first issue I have had since switching to Google, but it now makes me a little worried about using it.

Here is the message from Google...

Account Lockdown: Unusual Activity Detected

This account has been locked down due to unusual account activity. It may take up to 24 hours for you to regain access.

Unusual account activity includes, but is not limited to:

Receiving, deleting, or downloading large amounts of mail via POP in a short period of time.
Sending a large number of undeliverable messages (messages that bounce back).
Using file-sharing or file-storage software, browser extensions, or third party software that automatically logs in to your account.
Leaving multiple instances of your Gmail account open.
Browser-related issues. Please note that if you find your browser continually reloading while attempting to access your Inbox, it’s probably a browser issue, and it may be necessary to clear your browser’s cache and cookies.
If you feel that you have been using your Gmail account according to the Gmail Terms of Use, you can troubleshoot your problem by clicking here.

Comments

Anonymous said…

The same problem here. Two times in one week. I m migrating away from gmail.

9/28/2008 5:41 AM

Anonymous said…

Just throwing it out here... But is it possible to create an account, say "usernamebackup@gmail" that you can forward all of your mail to? In theory, if you were locked out wouldn't you still get your mail? And if you really wanted to take it far you could link your accounts and send mail as your original user name.

Although I'm not sure if these functions cease when someone is locked out of his or her account. It's a nice work around though.

11/25/2008 9:17 PM

Anonymous said…

Goog recently kicked me out of an account. Password stop working. Could not recover.

Just pop3 all mail from other accounts to laptop.

I am unhappy with goog and will not use gmail...

11/01/2009 7:32 PM

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