Google GMail Hacked: It happened to me : SOMEWHAT FRANK

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November 27, 2005

Google GMail Hacked: It happened to me

Frank Gruber

I read a report last week about software being created to hack into Google GMail accounts and it brought back memories of my early summer misfortune. I actually had a similar experience as my GMail account was hacked. Not only was it hacked but some of my personal information related to hosting packages I owned was used to take control of my hoting packages. It was to the point I had to file an FBI report. In doing so I typed up this brief synopsis of the events. Please note: some of the name and descriptions have been changed slightly to protect my privacy.

I first realized I was dealing with a hacker situation on 6/6/05 after trying to access my Google GMail account for over week to gain access to 3 different Internet hosting agreements and the login information. I could not get into my Google GMail account so I contacted Google several times to alert them but only got auto response emails. Finally, I visited one of my website addresses that I have a hosting package only to find a hacker had left me the message as follows:

HACKED BY MAT_RONG VN

ME KIEP DAM HACK VNDROP CUA TAO A OJVDO DO CON CHO

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA

So this is when I knew I was in for an interesting ride of uncovering what this hacker had done. So I went on contact my hosting company and lock my accounts down. They were extremely helpful in doing so. These accounts included two professionally hosted websites.

I contacted Google GMail via phone and got their abuse and support email addresses and sent them another email explaining the situation.

I continued to go into my hosting accounts via FTP and started deleting the over 2000 files this hacker had placed on each website account. The hacker had started his own sites as well with domains purchased on my dime.

On 6/7/05, I received another email back from the GMail team with additional questions in an effort to verify my identity. I replied with all the details.

On 6/8/05, I received a call from the fraud department of my banking agent letting me know of some mysterious charges for hosting for at total of $5.99 and $11.93. At the time I did not connect them to this situation since I did not think my credit card information was saved by the hosting company nor did I recall having any information regarding addition website URL packages purchased with information being sent to my GMail address.

On 6/9/05, I finally received word via email from Google that my GMail account had finally been turned off so that they could further investigate the claims I had made.

On 6/10/05, I received word that Google had finished its investigation and had reset my secondary email address. They sent to that address a link to reset my password and re-take control of my GMail account. Upon doing so, I started to investigate my email account. At first glance I saw nothing strange but then noticed that this hacker had used my current hosting accounts to purchase additional URLs. The hacker also attempted and seemed to deem successful on changing all of the mailing contact information on my account from my current address to something else. I promptly contacted my hosting company again.

Further investigation of my GMail account found that the hacker had tried to purchase the a $156.00 hosting package from another hosting provider using my email address and billing information. The hacker was denied on the first attempt but was successful on the second according to the support department employee at the hosting company. She sent out an alert and shut down the account with the URL.

On 6/11/05, between 2am and 3am I received 2 emails from GMail's password assistant which meant that someone was trying to retrieve my password again. Then later that morning I recieved the email below from the email address (o0lovedevil0o@yahoo.com):

On 6/11/05, aaaaaaaaaaaa aaaaaaaaa <lovedevil0o@yahoo.com> wrote:

I was use your mail and your host in some day ago

I verry sorry .I don't want do it but I must do the website for my class

I was buy a host is catbionline.net

and I use your mail

now Ican you unsuspend my account

ok? I'll give your acc in 1and1

please

Though it was nice of the hacker to contact me and the hacker was polite by saying "please", this is when I decided I had enough information to come to the FBI and file a report. The hacker had now not only stolen my identity to use my email address and credit card to purchase items, the hacker has stolen my hosting services to host his or her own sites, and tried to bribe me with the one remaining hosting account he or she had access to with 1and1.com.

So there you have it. Google GMail was hacked and I was the victim and it led me on a wild ride to reclaim several accounts and ultimately my identity.

Sphere It

Filed under Freedom Google Internet Legal Somewhat Frank Technologies Technology Web/Tech

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Comments

You were lucky...at least GMAIL answered and gave you the control back to you. In my case, I lost (so far) 1 YAHOO account and 3 HOTMAIL accounts, and the hacker is living happyly ever after...He is using those accounts to send spam in my name, to steal also my contact's email accounts, etc. and no way to stop it! Emails to HOTMAIL and YAHOO are a waste of time...FREE email is the MOST EXPENSIVE of all freebies...So far He/She has stolen/got control forcing me to close:) one EBAY account, one credit card, one bank account, one computer parts business account, one MICROSOFT reseller account. I also received a phone call to "confirm my remote access code" and I have not asked for any of that...meaning, He/She has already starting opening some sort of accounts with my stolen id. Should not ALL companies have an ID THEFT HOT LINE to stop this from happening the same day that you notice fradulent activity on your accounts? At first you think is a stolen email issue and then when you realize being a victim of stolen identity IT IS TOO LATE! The damage is already on its way and under their control...

Posted by: George | Monday, January 02, 2006 at 08:32 PM

My Gmail account was hacked 2 days ago. I have sent email and additional information using their report form and tell them that someone has compromised my gmail account. I'm just unsure how long would it take for google to help me out. They never say it in their website after I posted the report. There are so many sensitive data inside so I really can't wait longer. Can someone inform me how long typically before gmail respond???

Posted by: yaahhct | Wednesday, January 11, 2006 at 05:41 AM

Someone has taken control of my account too, have any of you heard back from google?

Posted by: Asher | Friday, February 10, 2006 at 09:46 PM

I can't access my email address unless it stay to read my mail, then if I close it, I lose everything. Thanks.

Posted by: Clara | Tuesday, March 07, 2006 at 12:50 PM

plz send me my password i have lost my pasword

Posted by: atia | Wednesday, April 05, 2006 at 08:41 AM

wow glad ive never been hacked

Posted by: carl | Saturday, April 08, 2006 at 08:54 AM

Im glad never had a gmail account :)

Posted by: Laender | Thursday, April 20, 2006 at 07:03 AM

My gmail account was just hacked. It has been 4 days and Gmail has yet to repsond. The hacker has found out my ebay account now and fraudulently sold items with my account. Then he sent a fake phishing email to me asking for my personal information. I have yet to find a number to reach Gmail.

Posted by: Michael Young | Friday, May 19, 2006 at 11:33 AM

Oh my! That sounds very similar to what happened to me. It took me a few weeks to get it sorted out! I am sorry to hear that. I wish Google had a better system set up to re-capture your account. I guess you get what you pay for though with free email...that is why I use Yahoo now.

Posted by: Frank Gruber | Friday, May 19, 2006 at 11:48 AM

thats why i dont keep sensitive shit in my email, i have one account for sensitive stuff, one for spam, and one for conversations, and im only 16. i fucking hate hackers who exploit shit, i have hacked, but not for profit, theyre the worst.

max

Posted by: max | Saturday, May 20, 2006 at 09:11 PM

Hi,

my main gmail account got hacked with a lot of sensitive info. i needed gmail's support number. is it possible for you to give it to me.... either by posting it here or mailing me at rbrowne@gmail.com

Thanks

Posted by: Robin | Sunday, August 06, 2006 at 08:14 AM

Please do not say that Gmail was 'hacked' when some blackhat was able to capture your unencrypted login information. Google was *not* compromised in this situation. The thief only intercepted your login information.

If you want to improve your Gmail security, login to Gmail using SSL. www.customizegoogle.com has a tool that integrates with Firefox to filter ads, login with SSL and many other very nice features.

Posted by: pand0ra | Thursday, September 21, 2006 at 12:23 PM

I seriously have had my gmail account hacked. They keep using it. They bought over $15,000 off Ebay before I got Ebay password changed. All of my password change email addresses are to the gmail account. Yes, I was stupid. But Now gmail will not respond. No phone number. The rules on their site say the account must remain dormant for 5 days for them to give me control back. How can it remain dormant when the hacker is in it. Today he tried to change my Ebay password again, only, thank God, Ebay had live chat on their security site that helped me get the password changed so the request came to my new email, not the Gmail account. Does anyone PLEASE know how I can get Gmail to freeze this account? I so need help.

Posted by: Nancy Alexander | Friday, September 29, 2006 at 11:08 AM

This happened to me as well!!! Someone hacked into my GMAIL account and began sending messages to me! (i have 2 gmail accounts).. i don't know what to do now..

the message looked like this:

Hello....
Hello....
HaHaHaHaHa

Posted by: alex | Tuesday, October 24, 2006 at 12:05 PM

Are you all stupid, google was not hacked. Im guessing that you use the same password for everything. All it needs is you to sign up to a vulnerable site and use your gmail address and password. If that site gets hacked then they have your information for your gmail account.

If you use your gmail account for serious things then you should give it an unique password to everything else.

Posted by: cat | Tuesday, October 31, 2006 at 02:29 PM

Well my Gmail is ckadrhanshaw@gmail.com and I would like to see someone try to hack it. they will be in for a big surprise. Cause I'm the best hacker that ever lived

Posted by: Kelly.Hanshaw | Monday, November 13, 2006 at 09:30 AM

my email account was hacked too. can any one help me to block that hacker? if u can, please send mail to me. my email address is inuyasha311@googlemail.com
Thanks u

Posted by: nancy | Saturday, December 09, 2006 at 12:17 AM

I contacted Google GMail via phone and got their abuse and support email addresses and sent them another email explaining the situation.

HOW EXACTLY DID YOU GET A NUMBER TO CALL??? and what emails did you use???

Posted by: Richard | Monday, December 18, 2006 at 12:09 AM

My Gmail was hacked 4 days ago and I still have not heard back from Google. I have started a blog - hoping to raise some hell and get Google's attention. I read somewhere that having a hacker in your email is like being locked out of your house while you are being robbed.
I love Gmail - great interface et al - but Google's customer service - a whole 'nother story!!!

My blog - thehappinessofpursuit.blogspot.com/

Posted by: Winged | Thursday, January 18, 2007 at 09:52 AM

see the message, hacker is vietnamese???

Posted by: MinhNV | Thursday, January 25, 2007 at 01:28 PM

I'm not sure if this is related to any of this, but when mail is sent to my gmail acount i find it in my yahoo acount. it is still addressed to my gmail acount. i don't get why it does this. I've tried to get to the bottom of this with Google's customer service, but no luck.

Posted by: Ell | Friday, February 02, 2007 at 10:46 PM

Does anyone have the Gmail support phone number? We have another situation where Gmail has been hacked and the user has been locked out.

Thanks, Tim

Posted by: Tim Howell | Wednesday, February 28, 2007 at 07:11 PM

"this is when I decided I had enough information to come to the FBI and file a report"
lol.. I can just see how that went
You: Hello? FBI? My Gmail account was haxxored
FBI: O rly?
You: Yeah and they took over my hosting accounts and d3f4c3d my websites
FBI: Oh noez!
You: I want teh haxors brought to justice
FBI: Yeah.. we'll get right on that..

Posted by: MarcusBrutus | Thursday, March 01, 2007 at 10:52 AM

Please give us the phone number to call to contact gmail about this problem!

Posted by: nicole | Thursday, March 29, 2007 at 02:37 PM

I'm another one who has had my account broken in to. And, yep - my bank account is now crippled and GMare doing absolutely nothing. I live in the UK and wend as far as phoneing google in the US (you can find the number on teh about page form the google home page) only to get redirected to the same form over and over again. The line goes nowhare apart from to an automated voice.

Some utter d*ck has now been rampaging in my account fror 5 days and the service provider do nothig - oh how wonderful life is :(

Posted by: Matt Nield | Monday, April 16, 2007 at 09:34 AM

My boyfriend's email just recently got hacked. He thinks it's the same person who has managed to hack his account on his game. This person has changed his alternate e-mail address and he has no way of changing his password.

I'm not a crazy girl friend who needs to know what's going on and is making up a story. I'm a girl friend who cares enough to help her boy friend out. If anybody knows of any way to atleast try and get something back, please contact me @ gocourtney@illicom.net

Posted by: Courtney | Thursday, July 19, 2007 at 08:08 AM

CAN ANYONE FOLLOW UP ON THIS? has anyone been able to get their GMAIL aacount back? How????

Posted by: help | Friday, September 14, 2007 at 11:32 PM

FYI: GMAIL will get in touch with you once the report is filled out. it takes them between 4-10 days, the more info the faster. Give it time, try to sleep...you will get your account back!

Posted by: js | Monday, September 24, 2007 at 10:12 PM

I had opened a Yahoo! account back in 1999. This was my first email account and very dear to me. However, someone hacked it in 2005 and Yahoo! customer support keeps asking for my date of birth in order to reset the password. I finally gave up on it last year. It taught me a lesson: Never use free email accounts!

Posted by: Rahul | Wednesday, October 17, 2007 at 02:51 PM

pleaseeee, as i read all of the above i can see that there is no use in crying,,,
someone stole my gmail account , and has been using it,,,i tried to contact google, but it was imposible, what can i ado

Posted by: rod | Thursday, October 18, 2007 at 09:16 PM

Hello,

I just got hacked, by someone, this is my address dr.dree@gmail.com, i was chatting in MSN with some friends, and they told me, why u sending us emails about helping you on money and stuff.. i was like wtf? i didn't..

Then today i tried to log to my google mail, password error, i tired like 4 times, and same thing.... i tought i will reset it and receive it to my alternate mail... i requested reset, the hacker also changed the alternate mail..

i opened my alternate email which is chronical_empire@hotmail.com, i seen the message thats the hacker sending it:

****************Hacker message*********************

Hello
I've to pay about 100$ from my moneybookers.com account to a guy who cannot accept money from paypal, so when I tried to checkout and transfer, my credit card got failed. I'd funded my account by this credit card before, I just wondered why it's declined now! Would you please do me a favor? May you sign-up a moneybookers.com account and send 100$ to sdatsenko15@gmail.com? I'm just in a bad situation cause I've to pay the guy ASAP. I'll pay your cash as soon as I receive your reply.

Please use the "Upload Funds" button and add 100 $ to your account then press "Send money" button and enter amount (100 $) the recipient email will be : sdatsenko15@gmail.com
Also please write my name in the description field so the bill will be in my name.

Your help is appreciated
Wish you the best.

--
Night Stalker
a Man Forged in conflict.

****************Hacker message*********************

this is the message the hacker were sending from ma email.

i filled the form gmail security requesting... i hope they will answer me soon, ... if anyone know anyway to fix the issue and get the email back, i will appreciate that.. contact me chronical_empire@hotmail.com or MSN id : dr.dree@gmail.com

Cheers,
Adnan S. Dimashki

Posted by: Adnan Dimashki | Friday, October 19, 2007 at 09:59 AM

I know what it's like to have this happen to me, I changed my password and security question to things that were so complex even I couldn't remember them! I had to go about 5 days without my Gmail account. Just fill out the account reset form and Google will ask you a few security questions. Next thing I knew I had a link in my secondary inbox to reset my password!

Don't worry, you will get your account back if you jump through the hoops!

Trust me though, you do not want this to happen again. Change your password to something secure and rememberable, and never login anywhere you think is suspicious! This includes using mobile phones or PDAs as anyone can track the signal and obtain your password.

Take care!
Steve

Posted by: IDM | Friday, October 19, 2007 at 05:19 PM

This happened to me too. Gmail finally reset my account, but I never got an explanation as to what happened, and if they caught the person. I also would like to know how compromised I am.

Posted by: jamie | Wednesday, October 31, 2007 at 07:31 PM

This thread may be of interest:
http://tinyurl.com/24dbgr

Posted by: jamie | Wednesday, October 31, 2007 at 07:45 PM

THIS REALLY HAPPENED: it is pretty easy to hack into gmail. all you have to know is the security question and most are not hard to figure out if you know the person. once you put that in than it gives you option of changing password. does not get send to secondary email. then once you are in there you can change their secondary email yourself. and do whatever you want. I know this b/c it was done to a friend of mine. she found out it was an ex who did it to her. so make sure your security question is EXTREMELY difficult to answer. b/c it many cases it is someone who knows you and how you would answer.

Posted by: Jennifer | Thursday, November 22, 2007 at 03:46 AM

My account was hacked yesterday and i have no idea how to contact gmail tech support. They say they have sent a message to my alternate e-mail, but nothing has come thru. Now my friend says that soem one is chatting with him thru my e-mail that has been hacked. I am trying desperately to contact someone in gmail and inform them about it and can't a damn thing in gmail.

Posted by: Dave | Monday, November 26, 2007 at 09:30 AM

I recieved an Email from "G-mail" 7 days ago telling me to update my account or I would lose it forever. However, there is not anywhere to update it and today is the last day it says I can do this or my Gmail account will be deleted. Has anyone figured out how to successfully contact Gmail? If so please tell me how?

Thanks

Posted by: Lisa | Friday, December 07, 2007 at 04:24 PM

Now if your gmail account is hacked, u r not alone. Millions of Hackers out there are like little babies waiting to be nursed with the stuff in your account. Once they get hold of that account, ur fucked. They can use a keylog program that takes screen shots of of you are doing and see what you type. They can also guess the security question. So for all of you above who had gmail accounts hacked, learn ur lessons, get an effective firewall and once your account is back (maybe noy), change your security questions and password the hardest u ever imagined. write it down somewhere so u can remember.

Posted by: john | Sunday, December 30, 2007 at 10:23 AM

Someone has hacked my account how do i get it back

Posted by: Janet Cross | Sunday, January 13, 2008 at 09:14 PM

Hi,

Someone has broken into my gmail account a couple of days back, he has also changed the security question and also the secondary email. I have written an email to them reporting this but havent heard back.... can anyone please help me with a number where i can call and may be contact google. I am in India and am not sure if i can do something about this in terms of legal action, as i am quite sure of who the person is. I would really appreciate if some can guide me in this concern.

Thanks

Posted by: Karan Bummi | Monday, January 21, 2008 at 11:36 AM

My gmail account is hacked so i request to u plz send me password on my altername e-mail address.

Posted by: Dangi Bhikha | Tuesday, January 22, 2008 at 01:55 PM

Lots of people asked for a ngmail support phone # they could call to speak with someone if their acct. had been hacked. I never saw a number. Is there one I could call?

Posted by: Gail | Tuesday, February 26, 2008 at 12:25 AM

Unfortunately, the way of free Web products supported by Google's advertising does not lend well to solid customer support and therefore I do not think there is a phone number that you can call. Your best bet is to contact Google over email and just wait. That is what I did and I eventually got my account back.

Posted by: Frank | Tuesday, February 26, 2008 at 08:47 AM

Hello,
Please send me my gmail password that I have previous one.
cutymango@gmail.com I Lost my password. I cann't get it back.
So, Please help me anyone.

Posted by: Kaung Kaung | Friday, March 21, 2008 at 07:46 AM

Hi i have deleted some emails form my inbox as well from trash by mistake.. but i need a real help in retriving those.. i want to contact the gmail tech support team for the same can anyone send me the contact infor / email through which i cant apporach them and get help in retriving my lost emails? please forward the info to phanichand2k@gmail.com

if anyone knows how to retive those emails which have been deleted form trash also?

your sincierly,

phani
phanichand2k@gmail.com

Posted by: Phani | Friday, April 25, 2008 at 10:32 AM

Does anyone know the GMAIL Support Center number. I can't find it anywhere. Thanks so much!

Posted by: Jennifer | Thursday, May 15, 2008 at 12:58 AM

HELP HELP HELP HELP

Please HELP us some one hacked our gmail password.
accurate.steve@gmail.com we lost our password.
I cann't get it back. we will be thank full to you all who ever help us or can reach us at 847-227-8385

So, Please help me anyone.
mail me at accurate.marc(at)gmail.com

Posted by: Marc HELP HELP HELP | Thursday, May 15, 2008 at 08:48 PM

hi!
can any one help me
i have lost my gmail acc password
i have important contacts & mails i need it back
my mail id is
arindam.mishra1@gmail.com
plzzzzzz
help me my dob is 18th april 1986 b'coz some 1 told me that dob is needed to hack acc
plz send me my password my friends id nayak.ujas@gmail.com

Posted by: arindam | Wednesday, July 02, 2008 at 04:31 AM

i forgot my gmail password and my alternate id is not working
at any cost i want my gmail account bcoz some important info is in it.. plz help

Posted by: shaffu | Saturday, July 05, 2008 at 08:49 AM

Hey there everyone, hope all's going gud for all of u coz its hell bad here in my life... i'm about to get married in a months time and there is this some weirdo who has hacked into my gmail account and started sending all these weird mails to my wife to be and my in laws... i'm not a techno person hence dont know anything about how to hack my original account back... i've even tried and sent out millions of complains to gmail but no use.. PLEASE is there anyone among u out there who can help me in getting back my old account??? pls!!! For Humanity's sake!! PLS i dont want to lose the love of my life thanks to sum weirdo kinldy help me out...

Posted by: Fawad | Wednesday, July 09, 2008 at 03:37 AM

my new current email address is fawad.rizvis@gmail.com if there's anyone among u who has the will and the heart to help me out in this matter kindly get in touch with me on the provided mail address asap... thanks

Posted by: Fawad | Wednesday, July 09, 2008 at 03:43 AM

More than likely you had a stupid easy to guess password, in which all of this could have been avoided.

I hate stupid users.

Posted by: Tech Team | Tuesday, July 22, 2008 at 02:25 PM

Gmail goes NOT provide telephone support.

1) Click on "I cannot access my account" and follow the instructions there.

2) After filling in the forms (provide a non-gmail account for contact), check the spam folder of the non-gmail account for the automated emails from Google.

3) Follow the instructions provided precisely and properly to help Google validate your identity. Provide AS MUCH INFO (even approximate) as you can.

Posted by: people | Monday, August 25, 2008 at 09:25 AM

Please HELP us some one hacked our gmail password.
saleemmmughal@gmail.com we lost our password.
I cann't get it back. we will be thank full to you all who ever help us or can reach us at sleem_mughal@hotmail.com
So, Please help me anyone.
mail me at
sleem_mughal@hotmail.com

Posted by: Saleem Mughal | Monday, September 01, 2008 at 10:23 AM

sir,
someone has changed my gmail account's password .. till i don't remember the secondary email id and secret question... and answer also so suggest me how cn iget my password.. for gmail account

Posted by: prashant bansal | Sunday, October 12, 2008 at 04:35 AM

My account has been hijacked!

I can't even fill out the "contact" or "restore account" forms because they have changed the login name and password such that these forms tell me my username is not correct. I just want to give gmail the account recovery details they need to prove my identity and restore my account.

The last date I effectively accessed the account is October 31, 2008.

This is very important as I use this account for work and it has emailed spam to every one of my contacts and clients!!!!

Please help me!

Posted by: April Ambrose | Sunday, November 02, 2008 at 11:11 AM

panick ... when logging in to my gmail account, i get a blank page.
is this a google error or is my account hacked?
i had no idea that gmail was so weak!

Posted by: hk | Wednesday, November 05, 2008 at 03:18 PM

My account is disabled and someone has hacked my account. I don't remember my password. Plz help me what to do??

Posted by: Jaishree | Saturday, November 08, 2008 at 08:06 AM

DOES ANYONE HAVE A PHONE NUMBER FOR A HUMAN AT GMAIL??
THEY "DISABLED" MY ACCOUNT. DON'T KNOW WHY.I NEED IT BACK.

Posted by: Su | Saturday, November 15, 2008 at 04:46 PM