Touring, online accounts and the potential problems

[HobbesOnTour]

Prompted by a recent post I thought I'd make a post to outline my relatively recent experience and to throw up some points for anyone to consider once they're away from home.

I recently lost my phone while abroad. It was the second time I'd done it but the first time didn't have the same impact because then I also had a tablet with all my online accounts so I could verify my identity easily.
The second time I had no tablet and the process is far more complicated.

I am not a tech person. I may misuse some jargon, but I'll try to be as clear as I can.

Immediately after I lost my phone I tried to access my Google account on a laptop in a hotel.
Google denied me access since this was a "new" device to Google. To gain access I had to respond to a message sent to my (missing) phone.

Frustrated, I bought a new phone and had the same problem.
When I tried to access my Hotmail account, under stress, tired, probably in a mild state of shock I entered the wrong password. The result - I was locked out, probably due to a combination of a mistyped password and a new device (and location).

Here's the thing. On my phone I hardly ever have to enter the Hotmail password - it's an automatic process - just tap the icon and away I go.

With Hotmail/Outlook I was able to try once (I think) every 24 hours and I eventually got back in after answering a raft of questions such as previous passwords, date the account was set up, the name on the account (I have many email addresses and honestly can't remember if I used my name or not on any or all), recent emails, the correspondent's email address and subject title. (How many of you know people's email addresses?!)

I thought I had all my options covered when I made my Hotmail account my recovery account for Google and my Gmail my recovery account for Hotmail.
The fact of the matter was that was I beside the border with time on my visa ticking down and desperately needed access to my email to:

• prove that I had permission to be in the country I was in, and
• prove that I was Covid vaccine compliant for the new country

That's a lot of pressure which doesn't help with answering such specific questions.

But Google remained the problem.
Despite an email to my (Recovery) Hotmail account every time I tried to log in, the account was not recognised as a recovery account.
The only phone number associated with the account was for the lost phone. If I had access to it there was no problem. But of course, I didn't have access.

There is no-one to talk to in Google about this. It is an automatic process. This is beyond frustrating. It may be worthwhile investigating a "commercial" Google account - at least then there is human back-up.
There is an "Account Recovery Process" but I have never been able to get beyond the first stage where it advises to follow the process on a familiar (to Google) device and / or a familiar WiFi network (home or work). As a long term traveller with only one device I had neither of those.

Getting locked out of Google is surprisingly common and sometimes happens in the most benign of circumstances. There's quite a bit of info online. You don't have to lose your phone to be locked out!

Being locked out of Google means that I had lost all the data that was in there - contacts, notes and documents and lots of photos. Lots of photos.
At the time I also lost my COVID vaccine status (required to cross a border) and proof of my permission to be in the country I was in.
I had also lost access to any accounts that I used Google to log in to, For example, Osmand. Losing Osmand means I had lost all my (personal) POIs (Points of Interest) built up over years.

Any account that uses two step verification (Bank, AirBnB, PayPal) also locked me out. With no access to the phone (or at least the number) I couldn't verify who I am. I couldn't access the account to change the phone number associated with it and in most cases I couldn't even communicate with them without an account. It is extremely frustrating to contact the likes of PayPal about having no access to my account and for them to reply - to my account!

For the likes of PayPal or AirBnB if I try to set up a second account they recognise the credit card number and deny it (because an account already exists with that number).

I also lost WhatsApp and all the contacts therein.

Unable to think straight I also found myself locked out of Facebook - again something I hardly ever have to enter the password for. Facebook is great for tracking down your contacts (who remembers a phone number or email address these days?) but setting up a new account and making contact is not necessarily straightforward. I had to prove my identity to friends and family alike.
(There is a relatively common scam where an email address gets hacked and people receive a plea from family or a close friend to send money in a situation similar to the one I found myself in).

Banking was an issue as well. My online banking needed me to register my new phone to prove it was me. To do this I needed to use a separate card reader and enter a pin number of my "reserve" card - one I hardly ever use. More pressure and stress. The pin, camouflaged, is in my contacts - on Google.
Ordinarily, I'd recall the number but under stress? It's very difficult. Thankfully a friend had my pin numbers.

A different friend had a sum of cash I had left with them for such an emergency. Ironically, after making contact with them through a new Facebook account they were very sceptical of me until we actually spoke. Had I needed the money it would most likely have been to a Western Union type service - more doubt and scepticism.

To block the lost phone I needed the IMEI number. I actually had it - as a photo, stored on Google!


I am far from an expert on these things but I would suggest the following:

It's not a bad idea to delete all your apps at home before you leave so that you have to go through the process of reclaiming them. Setting up a new phone is easy - when you have the old one! Restoring the online accounts is not so straightforward. Better to be aware of the pitfalls in advance.

Have two online devices and have your main accounts on both. Losing one allows you to access what you need on the other with minimal hassle. Keep them separate in case of theft or damage. An old, cheap phone with wifi is all that is needed.

If using online banking it's helpful to have a contact in the bank. Before I left I had a chat with a very pleasant lady in the bank and have sent regular emails to her updating her on my progress and availing of her wisdom.

Think very carefully about using your existing phone number for verification.

Perhaps it's possible to carry a second SIM card (with the same number) separately. There are also virtual Sims that I know nothing about and are only compatible with newer phones. (I know nothing about this)

If I was doing this again I would use a friend's number for security. Better to have verification codes sent to them so they can forward them on to you.

Not a bad idea to have a codeword to identify yourself to friends/family if you lose your accounts and need to prove who you are. Especially if talking will be difficult.

Another factor for me was that after my first phone was stolen (and the loss of my home country sim card) I was changing my sim card country by country, having a new number each time. Any account that was using phone verification had to be updated each time.

Don't use Google/Facebook or other sites to log into third party accounts (Strava, Osmand etc.). If you lose access to the main account you're also locked out of the third party one (or at least I was).

In order to recover an online account there will be a variety of questions to be answered such as name, date of opening the account etc. It's amazing how quickly we forget the details we supplied to set up an online account, and if, like me, you have several different email accounts the details may not be the same across them all.

If you have someone trustworthy it would be useful to log into your main account(s) on their home WiFi and on one of their devices. Supplied with your passwords they should be able to gain access to your account(s) when you can't.

In order to protect photos backed up on Google it is possible to either "share" your pictures with another account or even to create albums and share those. The link used to "share" the album can give you access and the ability to download the photos.

"Write everything down", I hear someone say and that may make sense so long as it's well camouflaged, hidden and weatherproof. My preference would be someone dependable somewhere with access to the same information who I can contact.

I'd been travelling for over 2.5 years so I understand if people think that this doesn't apply to them. I'd suggest that it can happen just as easily if you're away for a couple of days or weeks. My research upturned lots of cases where people were blocked from Google for no apparent reason.
In both cases my phones were stolen but the impact would be the exact same if I misplaced the phone and only slightly better if I dropped it in the toilet.

In the end, I waited Google out. Many months later I received a notification that my annual payment for extra storage for photos had been processed (PayPal) and this gave me an opportunity to talk to someone in Google, albeit in the accounts department. I went through about 12 different contacts and eventually 10 months later regained access by finally getting into the recovery process via the Google One app.

Paypal was sorted over the phone several months later having kept a close watch on my credit card. I didn't want to cancel PayPal from my Credit Card because it was paying certain subscriptions including Google and I saw that as a way to get talking to Google.
AirBnB even later, again over the phone.

Hope this helps!

 

[Arrowfoot]

Don't use Google/Facebook or other sites to log into third party accounts (Strava, Osmand etc.). If you lose access to the main account you're also locked out of the third party one (or at least I was).

Good advice not to use Google, Apple, Facebook etc to access other applications although many people do it. It becomes a single point of failure and you are locked from nearly everything.

 

[All uphill]

Wow, I feel for you @HobbesOnTour . Not the kind of adventure we want. Thanks for the good advice.

My very minor example happened last year on arrival in the Netherlands.
Because of a break in my Vodafone subscription during 2019 I no longer had free roaming and didn'tknow because I don't read their texts.. Because of no Vodafone I could not top up my phone credit to buy service in NL. I also had the usual problem in NL that Visa and Matercard are not universally accepted, so I only had the cash that was in my pocket.

Fortunately my cards were good to buy a rail ticket to my son's house where I could get everything sorted out, and a kind stranger sent my son a text to say I was on my way.

The lessons I learnt:

Have some cash,
Try not to be dependent on one device,
Read texts from your phone service
provider (I hadn't),
There are some kind people who will help.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

If you have an iPhone and back it up to iCloud , you can buy another and restore it exactly as before. Always have email as a verification option as well as SMS.

 

[tom73]

Good advice not to use Google, Apple, Facebook etc to access other applications although many people do it. It becomes a single point of failure and you are locked from nearly everything.

Or just remember the log in's for the important stuff so you can still live and get your hands on the money. Every thing else really in an emergency can be sorted later. Even better still don't use google to access anything.

 

[HobbesOnTour]

If you have an iPhone and back it up to iCloud , you can buy another and restore it exactly as before. Always have email as a verification option as well as SMS.

Well, that's the same theory with Google.
In reality, I still had to verify my identity by means of responding to a message on the old phone, despite having email verification set up with Hotmail.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Well, that's the same theory with Google.
In reality, I still had to verify my identity by means of responding to a message on the old phone, despite having email verification set up with Hotmail.

I usually get to choose the option I wish to use for verification. Best to check what you’ve got setup in your account verification settings.

 

[HobbesOnTour]

My very minor example happened last year on arrival in the Netherlands.

I think a lot of people might discount difficulties close to home or on short trips. The problem with tech is that it can become invasive and we don't realise how much we use it..... until we can't.

Wifi/data is another. It's amazing how an app can function differently (or not at all) when we are without both.

Have some cash,

Always. I've seen long discussions about this elsewhere but it's a no brainer for me. That night when the rain is pouring down and your tent will be washed away is the very night that the only hotel with a room will have no signal to process a card. Or a phone. Or a watch.

Read texts from your phone service
provider (I hadn't),

There are some kind people who will help.

That's the important thing to remember. Despite my unpleasant experience there were lots of kind souls who helped me out.

 

[HobbesOnTour]

I usually get to choose the option I wish to use for verification. Best to check what you’ve got setup in your account verification settings.

Hence my suggestion to test it out before departure.
I would have thought that losing access to a phone was common enough that email verification was enough.
I have never been able to get an answer from Google as to why I received an email to Hotmail every time I tried to log in to Google but could not use that same email address to verify myself.
The closest I got was being told that they wouldn't discuss any details of my account with me for my own safety!

 

[geocycle]

It’s a horrible experience wherever you are. The only other thing I would add is write down some phone numbers. I don’t even know my wife’s mobile by heart anymore and once got stuck when I’d left my phone at home. Even when I found a phone I could use I didn’t know the number!

 

[HelenD123]

Would it have helped if you'd have a Google backup code?

 

[HobbesOnTour]

Would it have helped if you'd have a Google backup code?

Possibly......
But I would probably have relied on Google to store it

The best thing would be to give the code to someone else so that it could be retrieved when necessary.
Something that is rarely used can be very difficult to dredge out of memory after a long time. Especially so if under stress.
At home, I'd write it down somewhere. Travelling, that's more difficult.

 

[HelenD123]

The best thing would be to give the code to someone else so that it could be retrieved when necessary.

Good idea. I think I would risk having some written on paper and stashed somewhere amongst my things too.

 

[Alex321]

This thread made me think a bit. I have 2FA set up for my google account, and many others. All using Google authenticator on my phone.

I have backup codes for all of them, but I keep those in a note in Lastpass - which is itself also set up with 2FA on the same phone.

So if I lose that phone, and don't have another already authenticated device with me, I'd be stuffed.

When I'm at home or work, I normally have my tablet and at least one computer also logged in, but if I were away, I might not. I need at the very least to copy the Lastpass backup codes onto a piece of paper I always have with me

 

[HobbesOnTour]

This thread made me think a bit

Good. That was kind of my point I thought I had all my bases covered but when the poop hit the fan, I didn't.

When I'm at home or work, I normally have my tablet and at least one computer also logged in, but if I were away, I might not.

That's the important point in all of this. When away, things are not like at home. We need to figure out just where those differences are. It applies to tech but also to things like banking or even a mobile phone signal. I had terrible trouble in the US trying to put credit on an American sim. Bought in a shop and paid for by credit card that transaction wasn't a problem. Later, with no shops anywhere, trying to use a European credit card to pay online was a nightmare.
At least with tech we can make a full backup and then test out the worst case scenario.

Sometimes, when it comes to touring we can take a very narrow approach to what gear to bring. It can be helpful to take a more holistic approach. I gave away my tablet along the way, thinking of the weight I'd lose, not paying much attention to how it saved me the first time I lost my phone.

I need at the very least to copy the Lastpass backup codes onto a piece of paper I always have with me

True. And depending on how, where and how long we're travelling, a secure place to store that piece of paper. I think a friend or family is best, at least as a final line of defence.