Gmail accounts can no longer be 100% secured

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In the past few weeks, we’ve noticed some slight (yet crippling to us) changes in Gmail. Mainly, we have noticed that sometimes, the account can revert back to the original phone number on file, even weeks after being changed to a new number. This is brutally shocking, and we believe it’s actually a bug.

What does this mean for you?

It means that anything that comes with the original email that is hosted on Gmail, is not currently 100% secure. We initially thought it was an odd snag, but this has been going on for 2-3 weeks now.

Why we believe it’s a bug.

Well, for starters, how would a person who has changed their phone number change the info on their Gmail? He couldn’t. Unless Google made some drastic attempt to combat account switching, then I say this is a bug.

What can we do to fix this?

Nothing much. We can report a bug to Gmail, hoping they will fix this. You can use this article to learn how to report a bug. The more reports we file, the better. We can reach out with a simple message like:

Hello

I’ve been trying to add a new phone number to my account but for some reason, it switches back to the old one days after it has been changed. Could you please look into this matter?

Thank you

Since bug-checkers will most likely look at your account history, make sure to send that message from a Gmail you acquired and not your personal one, as they will see phone changes on file with the new account.

How is this bug triggered?

While I can’t fully recreate it every time, it usually happens when you mingle in the security settings. For example, changing the password, phone, and adding/removing the recovery email can trigger this reversal.

How can I protect myself for now?

Listen to our transfer steps, don’t omit anything in the checkout ticket instructions. Mainly, people usually don’t listen to us and don’t add their phone numbers as we’ve asked. It’s best to complete all the steps during transfer, as we can iron things out while everyone is online. So, in order to protect yourself temporarily, and once the account has been secured as instructed by SWAPD staff, DO NOT ATTEMPT TO MAKE ANY CHANGES LATER ON, WHETHER IT’S CHANGING THE PASS, PHONE, EMAILS, OR ANY OTHER SECURITY SETTINGS. GMAIL MAY/WILL REVERT TO THE OLD PHONE, EVEN WEEKS AFTER THE TRANSFER.

Posted in bold so you understand the gravity of the situation. SWAPD has no control of this, and can’t give you any warranties if anything goes wrong.

Discuss.

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If you purchased anything recently that had a Gmail attached to it, I suggest you don’t make any changes to the security.

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Oh oh…this means the seller will still have control over the account/gmail for several seeks from purchase date, how about seller logging back in and attempting to make changes? would it be good for SWAPD to hold on the properties until we have a clear sight on this? … of course this will hammer the property transfer times.

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No, it means he MAY have control. This doesn’t happen all the time, and the number doesn’t switch until you start tinkering with the security settings.

would it be good for SWAPD to hold on the properties until we have a clear sight on this?

No, it wouldn’t. That won’t solve anything.

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I see…, then like you said before, paying attention to SWAPD transfer steps and carefully not bypassing anything in the checkout ticket instructions is a MUST. Thanks for the heads up.

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Got the glitch today. Changes security settings on gmail. They kicked me out, even tho ive changed my number in contact and in 2fa, it asked for old number. Does the old number go away affer some time?

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One you secure everything, it won’t switch back. Or at least, it shouldn’t. That’s why it’s important to change everything while the ticket is still open, so we can work with the seller.

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Yeeeew. But ive done the deal before i came across your page.

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On SWAPD? What’s the ticket number.

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I didnt know SWAP back then :frowning:

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Nie dobrze :frowning: Sorry man!

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I think this also relates to gmails getting pulled back ANYTIME by the original creator. Only thing he basically needs is the creation month and year of the account and previous passwords. The og creator may not get it back if he requests support from a different device and IP than the one used to create the account, but sometimes even just the date is enough.
If one requests to get back the email with the creation date, og device, IP and previous passwords there is NO way he won’t get the gmail back and there is NO way to prevent this.
Same thing applies to other email providers such as Yahoo, hotmail/outlook and even ProtonMail. For this last one, which people for some reason think to be the most secure when it comes to pulling it back, the og owner needs to also tell support what the last email logs were about.
Again, there is no way to prevent this if not to buy accounts with uncreated OG emails.

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This is why we always tell everyone, if you don’t have money to burn, don’t get into this business. There is only so much we as a company can do to secure these things. However, we cannot eliminate the human factor, a.k.a., the support line.

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