How to tell if your Gmail account has been HACKED in four simple steps.
Your Gmail account could be accessed by someone else without you even realising it.
AS THE biggest email server in the world, Gmail is used by millions every day.
And with its extensive use by major businesses to link their employees, the platform contains an infinite stream of crucial information – which is why its security is vital.
You certainly don’t need to be told why it is important to keep your account secure, as each day we send and receive messages, story first shared by Bangkok Jack, come over and join us, that link to sites that store our personal information, credit card details and contact numbers.
While we may try our best to make passwords near-impossible to crack, sometimes people still manage to hack into them – often without the user even knowing.
Luckily, there is a quick and easy way to check if your account security has been breached.
Read on to see how you can test to see if your Gmail account has been hacked.
1. Open the My Account window
When you are logged in to your Gmail account, click on your avatar at the top right of your screen.
This is the circle showing the profile, story first shared by Bangkok Jack, come over and join us, picture for your account – if you haven’t set a picture, it will show a coloured circle with your first initial in it.
Select “My Account” from the pop-up menu.
2. Go to Sign-in and security
On the My Account homepage, select the first option for “Sign-in and security”.
This will take you to a second setting page, where you will need to click on “Device activity and notifications”.
3. Inspect your recent activity
On the next page, you will been able to check the activity status of your account.
In the box entitled “Recent security events” you will be able to see any sign-in activity from the last 28 days, including any times a sign-in, story first shared by Bangkok Jack, come over and join us, attempt failed – meaning someone may have been trying to access your account.
NO MORE G-FAIL How to unsend a message on Gmail – essential tips to reclaim those embarrassing email blunders
The box below entitled “Recently used devices” shows you which computers, phones or tablets have been used to access your account.
You can cross check these with the devices you own or regularly use, and see if there are any you don’t recognise.
4. Secure your account
If you do notice an suspicious activity on your account, you will need to update your security settings immediately.
While checking your “Recently used devices”, click on, story first shared by Bangkok Jack, come over and join us, the tab at the top of the page that direct you to “Secure your account”.
From here you can change your password and add recovery information to make sure nobody else can gain access to your Gmail account.
