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My Gmail account was hacked a while ago, and because the hacker setup a forward that deleted as it worked, I lost a month's worth of emails. Google help (oxymoron) said that I could never get the emails back, but of course we know they keep everything forever.

So does anyone know a method to get Google to restore the emails?

I'm looking for some customer service trick, or secret email or phone number, or anything.

[Yes, I realize since they've admitted that they'll give anything to the Feds that they ask for, I could play that angle, but I'm not looking to go there.]

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  • This answer may be useful, but in your particular case, it's probably too late.
    – ale
    Feb 15, 2017 at 20:12

1 Answer 1

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Their customer service is notoriously horrible. If you get a person on the phone, they will simply direct you to a web page or ask to send in the answer by email.

I'll mention gethuman.com but if you call the Google number, they just give you instructions that point you back to the internet.

If you want a response, I would suggest filing a claim against them in small claims court. It won't cost much, and they'll be forced to respond. IANAL, but you probably have to sue for "damages" which in this case would be money, so they could also just pay you and not give you the information you seek. They could also prove that you did actually 'delete' the info and then the judge might throw it out. But at least you'd get to an actual human who could help you (or at least tell you they don't have the information).

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/aaron-greenspan/why-i-sued-google-and-won_b_172403.html

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  • I doubt small claims will do much good. It's not really google's fault you got hacked - and I highly, highly doubt they have your deleted emails in an easily retrievable form after a month or two passes.
    – bdonlan
    Jun 30, 2010 at 21:43
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    @bdonlan I agree that it probably won't help. Lance is probably just screwed. But it would make for a fun blog post!
    – Michael Pryor
    Jun 30, 2010 at 21:45

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