Google 2-step verification help

[LaBalbe]

Hi all, I realize that this is way off-base, but I posted this problem to Google's "Help Communities" earlier this week and have gotten absolutely nothing; no surprises there. This is by far the most/only helpful forum that I've been a part of, so I'm throwing this out like a Hail Mary in the hopes that someone has an idea of how to fix this issue. Apologies for the long diatribe and I'll try to keep my frustration with this from making it too bitingly cynical or sarcastic, but no promises.

We signed my kid up for a Gmail account back in February, and almost immediately Google's bots & computer programs decided that this account had been created by a bot or computer program, and so blocked it; no, the irony isn't lost on us. That time around, I was somehow able to file an appeal and a couple of days later I got an automated reply saying that our request for restored access was approved, and for a brief while, that appeared to be the case, but once again the account has been disabled for the same reason, and our only recourse this time appears to be to set up 2-step verification with a cell phone.

Here's the problem: my kid does not HAVE a cell phone, so I'm obligated to use mine. The issue is that my cell is (surprise, surprise) in MY possession, not theirs, so emailing or texting me a code while we're not in the same physical place is hardly a viable option. Even if I were to call up wherever they are to get the code to them, by the time I got ahold of them, the code would likely expire; my understanding is that these usually only last for a few minutes.

We've set up my phone to have access to their email in a bid to use Google Prompt, so that I could at least have a means of authorizing their access when we aren't in the same place, but although I'm now getting their emails on my phone, Google still isn't recognizing my device on their account, and is giving me the same stupid instructions to set up their account on my phone; in essence, a bot is telling me to do what we've already done, because their bot decided that my human child was a bot, and Google is so anti-humanity that they won't even provide a proper customer service option.

Has anybody dealt with this, and can provide guidance on what we can do to get Google's bots and programs to decide that we're actual human beings and not variations of themselves?

Sponsored

 

[MountainGoat]

I dealt with something similar to this with paypal, still locked out. There is no human you can find in either company.

You can get a burner phone through mint mobile with a fake identity and privacy.com card, which I assume could work for google. There are online services to spoof a phone number too. The free ones don't work but maybe the paid ones do.

The requirements for a phone/tracking device are pretty severe. When mine broke I couldn't get into my online savings account and customer service literally told me to just get a new phone asap.

 

[LaBalbe]

I dealt with something similar to this with paypal, still locked out. There is no human you can find in either company.

You can get a burner phone through mint mobile with a fake identity and privacy.com card, which I assume could work for google. There are online services to spoof a phone number too. The free ones don't work but maybe the paid ones do.

The requirements for a phone/tracking device are pretty severe. When mine broke I couldn't get into my online savings account and customer service literally told me to just get a new phone asap.

It's not so much that I object to putting my number in, it's that my number stays with me, not my child, so if they need a code texted to them, they won't be the one receiving it. Getting myself a burner phone won't really change the fact that it would still be with me.
The obvious solution is to get the kid a phone, and that had been the plan until they went and lost their glasses by being careless like they've been told not to do a million times, and the money set aside for a phone got used to replace their glasses instead; they're an early teen, and it hasn't quite been long enough to call that particular lesson concluded.

 

[MountainGoat]

It's not so much that I object to putting my number in, it's that my number stays with me, not my child, so if they need a code texted to them, they won't be the one receiving it. Getting myself a burner phone won't really change the fact that it would still be with me.
The obvious solution is to get the kid a phone, and that had been the plan until they went and lost their glasses by being careless like they've been told not to do a million times, and the money set aside for a phone got used to replace their glasses instead; they're an early teen, and it hasn't quite been long enough to call that particular lesson concluded.

Could always just use another email like protonmail and tutanota. I don't remember if I needed a phone for either of those. But they're not like google.

 

[HeatXfer]

I'd try to set up another gmail account, but this time set up 2-step verification using a security key. You can get one for under $20 on Amazon.

Good luck

 

[Jason B]

Isn't there an option to turn off 2-step? One of my e-mails is yahoo, which is now Google. I often get notices to 'turn on 2-Step' but I just leave it off.

 

[MountainGoat]

I'd try to set up another gmail account, but this time set up 2-step verification using a security key. You can get one for under $20 on Amazon.

Good luck

I wouldn't buy a no-name security key off amazon with an Engrish description but that's just me!

 

[LaBalbe]

Isn't there an option to turn off 2-step? One of my e-mails is yahoo, which is now Google. I often get notices to 'turn on 2-Step' but I just leave it off.

Doesn't seem to be the case. I don't have it on my older Gmails either, and they keep trying to get me to do it, but it's just a PITA and honestly, isn't actually doing anything to protect me anyway. Hackers aren't getting in by duping my password, they're getting in through other vulnerabilities, and linking more of my devices together just makes them more susceptible to all getting hacked together.

I have to deal with it on my work email, and the stupid thing requires a new 2SV every 24 hours; apparently no one was smart enough to say "Hey, since they'll have to do this every day anyway, why not just reset it for everyone at 4 am?"; no, instead it's 24 hours from the last time I logged in, so if I happen to have an out-of-office meeting/appointment one morning, it throws the schedule off for the rest of the week, and keeps logging me out when I'm in the middle of doing actual work!

 

[HeatXfer]

I wouldn't buy a no-name security key off amazon with an Engrish description but that's just me!

OK, spend $25 on a YubiKey. It's a Swedish company that makes their security keys in Western Europe and the U.S.

 

[MountainGoat]

OK, spend $25 on a YubiKey. It's a Swedish company that makes their security keys in Western Europe and the U.S.

Ok that inspired some trust. Those Swedish are nice people unlike those sneaky Koreans. If it was maybe $300 instead of $25 I'd trust it even more (like my bitcoin wallet).

 

[OrangeStreak]

Here is my experience with google...several weeks ago, I tried to open a new gmail account and a message from google said that I was over the limit for the number of gmail accounts that could be opened with them. I searched for more information about this account limit and learned thru a non-google site that google assumed I was a hacker (but google didn't tell me that) and that if I would wait for at least 48 hours that I might be cleared then to try and open the account again then it might be accepted and amazingly it did open and is working fine now. Tricky stuff...

 

[LaBalbe]

Here is my experience with google...several weeks ago, I tried to open a new gmail account and a message from google said that I was over the limit for the number of gmail accounts that could be opened with them. I searched for more information about this account limit and learned thru a non-google site that google assumed I was a hacker (but google didn't tell me that) and that if I would wait for at least 48 hours that I might be cleared then to try and open the account again then it might be accepted and amazingly it did open and is working fine now. Tricky stuff...

Did you delete it and try to re-create it again, or just wait 48 hours to login? If it's the latter, then we've gone past 48 hours on multiple occasions over the past two months. Sometimes it'll be a week or more before we try again and still no joy. Do you remember what the non-google site was?

 

[OrangeStreak]

Did you delete it and try to re-create it again, or just wait 48 hours to login? If it's the latter, then we've gone past 48 hours on multiple occasions over the past two months. Sometimes it'll be a week or more before we try again and still no joy. Do you remember what the non-google site was?

My apology...I had forgotten that the message that I received when I tried to create that account was actually:
"This phone number has been used too many times"
It wouldn't create on the initial try because of the above message but after at least 48 hrs. or more (didn't keep exact track of the days I waited) I created it from scratch without any issues.

I found the "wait and then try again" info. on the link below which is mentioned in the 3rd post. Also if you continue reading down this page it mentions the possibility of abuse and scams:

https://www.quora.com/Google-says-t...can-t-have-access-to-my-account-What-can-I-do

I had 4 gmail accounts when I tried to create that 5th one and that was probably why they gave me the initial rejection message, but for some reason after the wait time they did allow me to create a 5th one:

https://www.dragapp.com/blog/how-many-gmail-accounts-can-you-have/

Hope this helps!

 

[LaBalbe]

My apology...I had forgotten that the message that I received when I tried to create that account was actually:
"This phone number has been used too many times"
It wouldn't create on the initial try because of the above message but after at least 48 hrs. or more (didn't keep exact track of the days I waited) I created it from scratch without any issues.

I found the "wait and then try again" info. on the link below which is mentioned in the 3rd post. Also if you continue reading down this page it mentions the possibility of abuse and scams:

https://www.quora.com/Google-says-t...can-t-have-access-to-my-account-What-can-I-do

I had 4 gmail accounts when I tried to create that 5th one and that was probably why they gave me the initial rejection message, but for some reason after the wait time they did allow me to create a 5th one:

https://www.dragapp.com/blog/how-many-gmail-accounts-can-you-have/

Hope this helps!

Thanks for the info. We tried again last night, and were able to get into the kid's account, but who knows how long that'll last, so it's good to have this info; Quora seems like an actually helpful forum, as opposed to the mis-named "Google Help Community" where our question went unanswered for a week before some bot decided that it was similar to another thread that they've determined has been resolved, and deleted my post; no, they did not actually provide me with a link to this "similar thread", so I have no idea what info was provided there, nor if the question was actually resolved.

I appreciate everyone's feedback; you guys really are the most useful, helpful & caring forum that I've come across, and I really appreciate the way that you'll even go out of your way to help with questions that aren't even related to our principal subject matter.

 

[OrangeStreak]

Thanks for the info. We tried again last night, and were able to get into the kid's account, but who knows how long that'll last, so it's good to have this info; Quora seems like an actually helpful forum, as opposed to the mis-named "Google Help Community" where our question went unanswered for a week before some bot decided that it was similar to another thread that they've determined has been resolved, and deleted my post; no, they did not actually provide me with a link to this "similar thread", so I have no idea what info was provided there, nor if the question was actually resolved.

I appreciate everyone's feedback; you guys really are the most useful, helpful & caring forum that I've come across, and I really appreciate the way that you'll even go out of your way to help with questions that aren't even related to our principal subject matter.

Glad you were able to get the account going! I've found that It is almost impossible to get any help from google for their features...tech support is non-existent. I only use them because some research indicated they have the best free email system with the most storage and variety of features. They are known to track anyone they can so I take all the measures possible including an internet security system with a VPN but they are probably still getting through to some extent. I always disconnect from the internet when I'm not using it to try and ward off attacks.

Sponsored