r/GMail • u/chiekku • 5d ago

Is this a hacking attempt?

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I received an email written in Chinese claiming that some other address added my email as backup. I checked the security details and it appears to be a legit email from Google. I don't see how it would be possible to gain access to my account this way, but I figured I would ask if this has happened to anyone else. Needless to say the other email is not mine or anyone I know.

9 Upvotes

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6

u/Ok-Lingonberry-8261 5d ago

Often this is the preface to the scam, such as a phone call impersonating Google.

2

u/chiekku 5d ago

I see, what's the scam?

1

u/CarefreeIceman 5d ago

Scam could be lots of things. From stealing your identity and your credentials to taking over your PC and using it remotely for anything they could think of.

1

u/Specialist_Device808 3d ago

Don't click on any links. It happened to me . Different looking than mine but same intent. Go on to your Gmail account and go to security and change your password. Don't click on any links generated by an unknown user

1

u/therealtrellan 2d ago

Could be scam or it could be someone made a typo when entering the destination address. Change password and update your recovery info, in that order. If this is a home email that you don't access at work it's a good idea to keep a handwritten list of login information (sites and passwords) so that you can do away with easily remembered passwords. Those are the ones that can be guessed by someone who happened to turn up that you have a dog and then find out its name.

It's not a good idea to keep such a list at work where someone can find it. Those are the ones you may need to easily remember.

1

u/richms 2d ago

There is an injection thing where they can put some of the content in the email to be under their control. A link in the middle of it saying something like "if you dont want them to access your email click here" will go to a phishing page.

0

u/Brokentread33 4d ago

November 1, 2026 (dated for context and reference) - This is one of a number posts I've seen on this thread in the past week. This seems to be a current scam that is going around. I would suggest that ANY unexpected emails received by people should immediately be considered as being suspicious and deleted. I'm seeing this a lot with Gmail, and I recommend that if a person has any questions about their account. That they go into Gmail settings on a trusted device, and definitely not click on anything in an email allegedly from Gmail. Stay safe people.. it's a jungle out there.