GMAIL users have been left alarmed after a bug caused them to receive emails from Google warning their accounts are about to be shut down.
The users were concerned about a possible phishing attempt as the emails claim the accounts will be shut down due to being “inactive,” although many claim they use the account on a daily basis.
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But it appears the the messages are simply a Google feature that is misfiring, ScreenRant reported.
A trending thread on Google’s support forum shows many users complaining that they were prompted to log in to their account after being told: “your Google Account will soon be considered inactive.”
The original poster on the thread wrote, “How is this possible. I use this account at least once a day. It says it will be considered 18 months inactive if I don’t log in ASAP, which I did. Have I been compromised?”
Many other users took to the thread to describe a similar experience happening to them.
“I use my account every day on multiple devices,” another user commented.
“Please check the logic here – or does this mean we have been compromised?”
Another user said, “I experienced the same thing,” with more commenting “same thing for me!”
Many users were logged out of multiple devices and had to sign back in on each one.
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Some even received these messages again after logging back in.
People were concerned that this was a phishing scam or a scheme to trick people into providing their login information from a fake source in the guise of an official one.
However, ScreenRant contacted Google One regarding the issue, and, “the response was that this seems to be a bug related to Google’s Inactive Account Manager feature,” they reported.
“In other words, it is not a scam.”
Apparently, the inactive account warning was simply a bug that incorrectly warned people who were not actually at risk of losing their information.
“Google support gave assurances that an inactive account warning won’t affect access to Google apps or result in any loss of data,” ScreenRant said.
The function is traditionally put in place as a “legacy contact,” or an option that allows a Google account owner to allow someone else to access their account if they become incapacitated or pass away.
These warnings are normally sent out to prevent the Google account information from being terminated.
Users should be aware their chosen “legacy contact” may receive an email in a month due to this bug.
However, Google may have cleared up the issue by then.
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