How To Recover Hacked Gmail Accounts: A Step by Step Guide

Our Gmail accounts have a whole lot of information, from professional to personal data. Hacked Gmail accounts expose most of our sensitive data to malicious attackers. On top of it, recovering it is a stressful thing when important documents, photos, financial details, etc are at stake.

However, we have good news for all of you: You can regain control of your account. Moreover when you regain access, make sure to secure it from any further attacks. Let’s look at the steps to recover your Gmail account again:

Steps to Recover Hacked Gmail Accounts:

In case of hacked gmail account, you can observe some of the unusual activities. You should first check which devices your account is logged in. Follow the given steps to regain control of your account.

1. Review all the security events in your account
2. Visit myaccount.google.com.
3. Select Security from the left side menu.
4. Go to Review Security Events in the “Recent Security Events” section.
5. Carefully try to detect all the activities that seem unusual.  

You should also check on which devices you are logged in

1. So Go to the “Your devices” panel and select Manage all devices.
2. Try to recognise the unauthorised login
3. And log out of that device.

But logging out is not enough; they may log in back if they have cracked your password. So, it’s important to change the password. Make sure to use a strong password that has letters, numbers, and special characters. Also, don’t use publicly available common things like phone numbers, date of birth, name, etc. Try to make it as unique as you can.

However, in the case of hacked Gmail accounts, the first thing that hackers do is change the passwords and log out all the previous devices. In this case, you must be logged out. Without the new passwords that the hackers have set, you won’t be able to log in. If you are facing the same issue, follow the steps given below:

1. Navigate to the account recovery page
2. Select “Try another way.”
3. Answer the security questions
4. Give additional information to verify your identity, such as an alternative email address, phone number, etc.

Make sure to provide the correct information because when Google’s support team reviews it, they must fit in the same that you mentioned in your GMail account.

How Hackers Hack GMail Account?

In the case of a hacked Gmail account, you must wonder how hackers have done this. There are various ways to hack Gmail accounts and hackers are continuously developing new techniques to bypass security checks. And with new techniques, they are able to get unauthorised access to your personal, professional, and financial information.

Here are some of the common methods that are used to hack GMail:

1. Phishing attacks

Phishing attacks are the most common ways to bypass the security checks of the GMail accounts. In this method, hackers send emails or sms that look authentic. These contain links to fake websites. These links are dupes of legitimate website URLs with the slightest difference. When people click on these links and fill in their login credentials, the hackers get the details and access the account.

2. Third-party app permissions

Another common way those bad guys use is by using App permissions. When people allow third-party app permissions, they open the doors to their personal information. The malicious hacker may get access to view, send, delete emails, or even change account settings.

3. Malware and spyware

The third method can be Malware or spyware attacks. Keylogging is software that helps with account compromises. When the users install keylogger, it can access the user’s Google account username and password as they are entered. And this is how the information is transmitted back to the hackers.

4. Public Wi-Fi vulnerabilities

We all have heard that using public WiFi is dangerous. Do you know why? When a person connects to an unsecured network, they are prone to hacking. This exposes sensitive data, such as Gmail account credentials, bank details, etc., to hackers. So, we suggest you use VPNs while using public WiFi. As VPNs encrypt your data.

How to Prevent GMail Accounts from Getting Hacked?

Before you have to find ways to recover hacked GMail accounts, you should strengthen your security. You can follow the below-given practices to prevent your account from being hacked:

• Use a strong and difficult-to-guess password
• Make sure to enable 2FA
• Don’t link on suspicious links
• Regularly review your account permissions and monitor account activity
• Use only secure networks or use a VPN while connecting to public WiFi
• You can also use Google’s Security Checkup tool to keep an eye on the activities.

Follow these practices to recover a hacked Gmail account and have a safe online experience.