Google security breach message.

[xylophone]

Last week I received an email from Google saying that they had detected a "potential security breach" (or similar wording to that), however I ignored it because I thought it might be just one of those things.

 

Then a few days later I got another one, so decided to look into it and it appears that someone has been trying to access my Google account, using my password, and they are located in the suburbs of Rio de Janeiro!!!!

I followed the Google instructions with regards to resetting my password (not an easy task for a non-techie like me) and after then resetting my email parameters I was all set to go.

My question is, why would anyone want to do this? I don't keep any passwords or the like on my computer, nor do I instruct Chrome to save them, so I would think that my banking etc would be fairly safe?

Is this merely an effort to access my address book to send out spam or similar or is there something sinister potentially going on?

[JaiMaai]

It could be something as simple as someone with a similar Gmail address typing in yours instead of theirs or just simply remembering wrong.
I know I've done it with some older emails I rarely use anymore. Someone, somewhere will have got security warnings because of my premature senility trying to access the wrong email.

Anyway, it sounds like you've done all you can for now. Keep an eye on your accounts for a while; check any sensitive things that might be linked to also but don't worry to much.

You could go total tin-foil hat mode and change every password you have. - If it makes you comfortable.

Sent from my TA-1021 using Tapatalk

[scottiejohn]

14 hours ago, xylophone said:

trying to access my Google account, using my password, and they are located in the suburbs of Rio de Janeiro!!!!

If you use a VPN (knowingly or otherwise) you could find that it was yourself doing the log in from RIO if the VPN was registering with Google as coming from there. (The fact that Google say the login was made using your password leads me to believe it was actually you, just google thinks you were in two different continents too close together in time.)  Banks/Email companies etc get very very concerned if one minute their system detects you in the US and 30 minutes later they "detect" you in Thailand all because one of the log ons was from the other country.  Always worth checking your VPN "host" country before logging onto "personal" account sites (ie banks etc).

I have had this happen to myself on a number of occasions when my VPN has changed countries without me noticing, especially if your WIFI/internet signal drops out and reconnects automatically. 

 

[lopburi3]

14 hours ago, xylophone said:

I followed the Google instructions with regards to resetting my password (not an easy task for a non-techie like me) and after then resetting my email parameters I was all set to go.

I do hope that you did this reset process directly with Google and not using any link or directions from that email.  Yes I know you probably know that - but always good to treat any unsolicited email as highly suspect so really can't be said enough.  The bad boys are out there.