Find out if your Gmail account is hacked

Posted on August 18, 2008 at 5:18 am

Has your email been hacked? Google released a new feature in GMail whereby you can see if more than one person is logged into your account. So if you are afraid that someone has hacked into your GMail account and is accessing it without your knowledge, you can now actually track who last logged in and if more than one person is logged in at the same time.

First log into your Gmail account and scroll all the way down to the bottom. You’ll see a line that says “Last account activity” and then the information for who logged in and how long ago.

If you click on Details, you’ll get a popup window with even more detailed information including the device from which Gmail was accessed, i.e. Browser, Google Toolbar, POP3, etc along with the corresponding IP addresses.

If someone else logs into my Gmail account from a different computer while you are logged in, it will show that information along with the IP address at the bottom of your GMail window.

As you can see, I have Gmail open in another location and the IP address is 209.177.243.246. If the person logged in is unauthorized, you can click on Details and then click on the Sign out all other sessions button.

This is a great feature because it can quickly help you discover a hacked or compromised Gmail account. If you see any suspicious IP addresses in the list, make sure to look up the location of the IP address to see if it is someone else or just another location you have logged in from.

If that is the case, make sure to sign out all other sessions and to change your password immediately.

» Filed Under Google Software/Tips

Comments

8 Responses to “Find out if your Gmail account is hacked”

Colin said on : August 18th, 2008 at 10:22 am

Very good new feature.
thx.
but how did they probably hack the gmail account without authentication?

Ryan G said on : August 19th, 2008 at 5:47 pm

It can be hacked, more by chance than trying. A gmail account can be written in various ways for the actual recipient. Just Google this and you’ll see what I mean.

Jeff G said on : August 20th, 2008 at 10:36 am

Great tool however as I look at it now it does not help me to look back 7 to 14 days ago which is when I believe my account was hacked (by ex-girlfriend).

Ali said on : November 7th, 2008 at 6:20 am

I used to have this feature, when i got a new laptop, the feature is no longer there. How do I get it back?

catnapping said on : January 26th, 2009 at 7:40 pm

a wonderful tool! this is great news. thank you. thank you.

btw…in my standard view, such links are not available. i actually had to lower to the html view for it to show up.

i-NET.iNFO said on : March 5th, 2009 at 3:30 am

Good tip. But what about if someone use mail client such as Thunderbird to check your gmail account.

Example,

Someone knows my gmail account and they use Thunderbird to access my account. Can it be detected?

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