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Users Reporting Deleted E-mail From Gmail Accounts

http://mail.google.com/mail/help/images/logo1.gifWe live in a time of amazing discoveries, yet there are still some mysteries that astound us. Questions like: Is there intelligent life on other plants? Does the Loch Ness Monster exist?

Most recently, it's been: Dude, what the heck happened to my e-mail? A number of users of Google's popular Gmail service have reported logging into their accounts only to find that all (or at least a large portion of) their e-mails had been deleted.

Gone, without a trace.

That would be quite a shock as you can imagine, but more troubling is that Google isn't providing any real explanation. If anything, the company is trying to blame the users, implying that they were sloppy with their passwords and that other users logged into their accounts and deleted their e-mail. But, for Jessica Squazzo, who found all her e-mail from 2007 deleted, that doesn't make much sense. "If someone had hacked into my account, why would they have just erased some of my e-mail and not all?" Others wonder, if people were stealing accounts, why wouldn't they just monitor them in the hopes of learning some sort of valuable information? Or just change the password and steal the account?

Google's explanation leaves a bit to be desired and we're hoping they come up with a better one in short order. Until then, if you use Gmail, you can protect yourself by configuring your mail to forward elsewhere. Just click "Settings" and "Forwarding and POP/IMAP" to have it directed to another, hopefully somewhat more secure, account. That way you won't have to worry about those digital pictures of Nessie from your uncle getting lost.

From Network World

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Tags: Gmail, Google, security

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