What to do if your Google[Gmail] account is hacked?

This article talks about the steps to take when your Google account has been hacked and how to recover from the losses arising from the episode.

There may not be any comprehensive method to know if your Google account has been hacked. There are many ways how a hacker can use your Google account. The most common of them all is to send messages on your behalf.
If you see emails in the sent folder of your Gmail account, you should know that the account has been hacked. In simple words, keep reviewing the account settings every few weeks. If you find any abnormality, consider the steps mentioned in this article.

Can you access your Google account?

In most cases hacked, leaving the account credentials without changes so does the account of suspicious transactions. In rare cases, however, the hacker can change the login credentials of Google and also remove the phone and alternate e-mail address associated with the account.

In this case, it becomes very difficult to regain control of the account, as Google will ask the exact date of creation of the account, this information is hard to remember unless the email is sent back up to another address e-mail to which you have access.

In simple that the hacker has changed the password case, you can  notify Google of the hacked account . You will be prompted for alternate email ID you previously provided to Google and if it matches your records, the new password will be sent to this ID.

In the case where the hacker has removed the alternate email ID associated with the account, it is almost impossible to regain control of the account. If you've tried the link above and have not yet received the new password (after trying two or three times), you can be sure that the alternate email ID has been deleted by the hacker.

In this case, visit the Google Help Center and tell them you have other problems accessing your account (see figure below).

The following screens will ask a few more questions and then try to provide login credentials.

If the information on your phone is still with Google, you may be lucky. However, I do not think a hacker you remove the alternate email ID would leave the phone information.

Your last resort is to visit the  password recovery page of Google and start a wizard that will guide you through various questions to help you recover your account credentials.

Keep in mind that it may not be possible to recover the account when the hacked has withdrawn his email ID and your account information alternative to Google and do not remember the alphanumeric code sent you when you created the Google account in question .

If you can access your Google account

-  Change the password  to something that is new and has never been used.

-  If the same password is used with other accounts,  change them as soon as possible so that the hacker can not have control over them.

Check the Sent Items folder  to see if the hacker has contacted anyone. Doing so contact these people and tell them that their Google account was hacked and that the message was sent by the hacker.

Check the settings of the Google account  to see the changes. Very often, hackers added forwarding email messages to another Gmail account.

Check the CHAT  area to find out if the hacker uses the chat feature under their identity.

Scan your computer for malware

One of the possible causes of a blocked account or a compromised account is the presence of malware on your computer. Use Microsoft Security Essentials or any other anti malware trusted to scan your computer and remove any possibility of any type of malware.

Turn on 2-Step Verification

The  2-Step Verification   adds an additional layer of security to your Google account, which drastically reduces the chances of having your personal information stolen account.