Gmail must be heading towards being the worst ever for  emails. It started about 8.30 am. I tried to log on and was told my password had being changed three hours previously, I was sleeping then, I spent the next half hour trying to log on without success, I was given "try another way" to sign in. I used my phone and three times the "yes it's me" came up, I pressed on it and nothing happened each time.

 

I was asked for and given other no's which I clicked on and again nothing happened. Eventually I was asked for the last password, the one I was supposed to have changed, only then did I manage to get logged in.

 

I see a lot of problems happening in the future involving passwords etc now with Gmail. I have used the "yes it's me" on my phone several times in the past without any problems, anyone else have  these problems with Gmail?

22 minutes ago, NoshowJones said:

anyone else have  these problems with Gmail?

No.

44 minutes ago, NoshowJones said:

anyone else have  these problems with Gmail?

 

None here

1 hour ago, NoshowJones said:

Gmail must be heading towards being the worst ever for  emails. It started about 8.30 am. I tried to log on and was told my password had being changed three hours previously, I was sleeping then, I spent the next half hour trying to log on without success, I was given "try another way" to sign in. I used my phone and three times the "yes it's me" came up, I pressed on it and nothing happened each time.

 

I was asked for and given other no's which I clicked on and again nothing happened. Eventually I was asked for the last password, the one I was supposed to have changed, only then did I manage to get logged in.

 

I see a lot of problems happening in the future involving passwords etc now with Gmail. I have used the "yes it's me" on my phone several times in the past without any problems, anyone else have  these problems with Gmail?

No problems here either.

 

Perhaps your4 Gmail account has been hacked.

1 hour ago, NoshowJones said:

Gmail must be heading towards being the worst ever for  emails. It started about 8.30 am. I tried to log on and was told my password had being changed three hours previously, I was sleeping then, I spent the next half hour trying to log on without success, I was given "try another way" to sign in. I used my phone and three times the "yes it's me" came up, I pressed on it and nothing happened each time.

 

I was asked for and given other no's which I clicked on and again nothing happened. Eventually I was asked for the last password, the one I was supposed to have changed, only then did I manage to get logged in.

 

I see a lot of problems happening in the future involving passwords etc now with Gmail. I have used the "yes it's me" on my phone several times in the past without any problems, anyone else have  these problems with Gmail?

Yes,yes,yes. I had a new email address given to me this morning and I needed a new password, I found all my contact emails had been wiped clean. I protested and found others had also. 30 minutes later everything turned back to normal. I was furious and still am, was this some techie with a new bright idea? Let's change every-bodies email address so nobody can contact anyone, some jobsworth needs to be sacked. 

Have you set up 2 factor authentication?

I use an authenticator app on my mobile for Google, Wise, Amazon etc safer than sms or email verification.

 

https://2fas.com/

34 minutes ago, Stocky said:

Have you set up 2 factor authentication?

I use an authenticator app on my mobile for Google, Wise, Amazon etc safer than sms or email verification.

 

https://2fas.com/

I will look into it Thanks.

No

 

It is getting more invasive, but that's everything.

 

Get into settings you can dial back some of that. 

Maybe this?

 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-15022913/Google-database-hacked-2-5-BILLION-users.html

4 hours ago, NoshowJones said:

Gmail must be heading towards being the worst ever for  emails. It started about 8.30 am. I tried to log on and was told my password had being changed three hours previously, I was sleeping then, I spent the next half hour trying to log on without success, I was given "try another way" to sign in. I used my phone and three times the "yes it's me" came up, I pressed on it and nothing happened each time.

 

I was asked for and given other no's which I clicked on and again nothing happened. Eventually I was asked for the last password, the one I was supposed to have changed, only then did I manage to get logged in.

 

I see a lot of problems happening in the future involving passwords etc now with Gmail. I have used the "yes it's me" on my phone several times in the past without any problems, anyone else have  these problems with Gmail?

One thing you should do asap is print out backup codes (TANs) in case you get locked out in the future.

5 hours ago, NoshowJones said:

anyone else have  these problems with Gmail?

No.

2 hours ago, JackGats said:

One thing you should do asap is print out backup codes (TANs) in case you get locked out in the future.

Great idea but I don't have a printer.

No.

And for an exception I stay logged on in Gmail on the PC.

No PW entering.

Nothing lost, all fine.

 

I vaguely remember some news about hacks on Gmail.

Seems I am untouched by that.

 

I have all kind of sensitive stuff (mail/bank accounts, passwords, contact data etc. etc.) in a very secure Veracrypt archive (18 character master password).

3 copies of that distribute to PC, notebook and external HDD (in the safe, hacker protected).

It's a bit of a effort to maintain but worth it.

I even stopped most (not all) storing of passwords in browsers.

Not too lazy to open archive and copy/paste.

 

 

Quite serious but unlikely related to the problems described in the OP:

https://www.pcworld.com/article/2880822/2-5-billion-gmail-users-at-risk-after-google-database-hack.html

 

13 hours ago, Stocky said:

Have you set up 2 factor authentication?

I use an authenticator app on my mobile for Google, Wise, Amazon etc safer than sms or email verification.

 

https://2fas.com/

After reading about 2fas on the internet, I still have zero understanding of how it works, and would have to spend some money getting a computer guru to set it up for me. However, one thing I did notice from my reading is that it still requires a phone connection, just like authentication via SMS?? If so, it would be useless for me, as my problem with SMS authentication is that my SIM card doesn’t work in all countries (I spend most of each year travelling).

2 hours ago, CygnusX1 said:

After reading about 2fas on the internet, I still have zero understanding of how it works, and would have to spend some money getting a computer guru to set it up for me. However, one thing I did notice from my reading is that it still requires a phone connection, just like authentication via SMS?? If so, it would be useless for me, as my problem with SMS authentication is that my SIM card doesn’t work in all countries (I spend most of each year travelling).

It's something you know (password), and something you have (cellphone app or SMS).   You type in the password and use a third party app to provide a code.    A text is not the optimum method.  

10 hours ago, CygnusX1 said:

After reading about 2fas on the internet, I still have zero understanding of how it works, and would have to spend some money getting a computer guru to set it up for me. However, one thing I did notice from my reading is that it still requires a phone connection, just like authentication via SMS?? If so, it would be useless for me, as my problem with SMS authentication is that my SIM card doesn’t work in all countries (I spend most of each year travelling).

No. It only requires an internet connection to read the QR code token from Google or whoever you're setting up with, once the app reads the code the 6 digit generator is synchronised and you enter the 6 digit number to complete the set up. After that anytime you need the authentication you open the app and enter the current code, the codes change every 30 seconds, the authenticator app is pin code protected or biometrics if you enable. Once set it doesn't need a phone or internet connection to work.

5 minutes ago, Stocky said:

No. It only requires an internet connection to read the QR code token from Google or whoever you're setting up with, one the app reads the code the 6 digit generator is synchronised and you enter the 6 digit number to complete the set up. After that anytime you need the authentication you open the app and enter the current code, the codes change every 30 seconds, the authenticator app is pin code protected or biometrics if you enable. Once set it doesn't need a phone or internet connection to work.

Thanks for that, might be the answer to my prayers, I’ll have to really look into this when I’m back home. Seems strange that the authenticator app is only protected by a PIN (I don’t trust biometrics). I have a 25 character password protecting my Bitwarden password manager, but I suppose it’s because 2fas is a second stage verification only.

DuckDuckGo.com.  Create a [email protected] email account and link it to Gmail, or Apple Mail….adds another layer of security - I quit using Chrome years ago, accept on .gov sites that require it. DuckDuckGo.com is more secure, has a good AI search engine as well.