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Forum Discussion
joaochora
7 years agoExplorer | Level 4
Two factor problem = account lost. user since 2009.
Good afternoon Dropbox Users and Community,
Today I want to share with everyone my experience with Dropbox for, maybe, Dropbox one day think on it and find a smart solution.. because as I will sh...
- 7 years ago
Good morning Dropbox Users,
I had lost the full access to my Dropbox account.
I lost my cell phone number; the emergency codes; and all the devices that I had connected so I couldnt sign in.
After "fighting" with many persons that work in the costumer service of Dropbox and persons, that are suppose to help here in the community, I finally got a solution and I want to share with you it.
Remember this only works if you are the real owner of the account.
Things you must have:
1 - You must have a cell phone and/or another device where you had your account connected.
2 - Contact costumer service through chat and explain the problem. Open a ticket. (you must create another account to chat ).
3 - They will sent you a link to the email of your MAIN account. Follow the instructions.
4 - Contact again costumer support using the ticket number and ask to talk with a supervisor and provide these informations:
4.1 - Email of the account.
4.2 - Full name on the account.
4.3 - DTG (Date-Time Group) of the creation of the account.
4.4 - The cell phone number associatted to your account.
4.5 - Your actual city (where are you typing right now).
4.6 - The city where you did the last successfully login into Dropbox.
4.7 - The name of a file that you have recently uploaded to Dropbox.
4.8 - The name of a folder that you have created into Dropbox.
4.9 - The name of any person with whom you share a folder, AND the name of that shared folder?
4.10 - The name of any linked computer?
4.11 - Attach a picture of the mac address of the network card that you used the last time to connect to your Dropbox. (it can be a cell phone or computer).If you give those informations correctly they will check your situation, and if all its ok, they will sent you a link (that expire soon, so pay attention to the email address that you used to chat) that allows you to reset your password.
Hope it allows to solve situations like i had before.
For read my situation follow this link:
https://www.dropboxforum.com/t5/Manage-account/Two-factor-problem-account-lost-user-since-2009/td-p/...This really works for me. Hope it helps the next users that pass through the same problem.
I will follow this thread for help also who needs
Jay
7 years agoDropbox Staff
Hi Joao, I removed your emails for security reasons.
Regarding your issue, this is a very common factor when upgrading a phone or having the emergency backup code saved on Dropbox.
Unfortunately, without the emergency backup code, nothing can be done to regain access to your account.
Using your login with other services to verify your account can’t be used for ownership.
Proof of purchase doesn’t help either, since paying for an account doesn’t constitute ownership of the account. Users pay for other people’s Plus/Professional accounts all the time. Does it mean that they also own that person’s data rightfully?
Previous codes being sent to you as proof are also disregarded, since this is randomized and could still be obtained from a lost phone. If old codes could be used to access your current account, then there’s no point in the security.
I can only reinterate what my article mentioned:
… 2FA is special in that you are in control of your own security. Basically, you don’t trust that an email and password alone could secure your account, so you added 2FA.For the same reason, we can’t reset your password for you just because you say you own your email address. Otherwise, what’s the point of the extra security?
If the agent in the support ticket can’t assist any further, then it’s possible that all options have been exhausted.
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.
- Mark7 years agoSuper User IIUnfortunately you told Dropbox to not give anybody access to your account unless they had the 2FA details (i.e. the codes you should save when setting it up) or the mobile number. Its only reasonable that they adhere to that instruction and not give anybody access who does not have it. Pictures etc. are easily forged and faked - hence why you need to keep the security codes given.
- joaochora7 years agoExplorer | Level 4Mark I´m not talking about pictures.
I work in cyber security and I know that are procedures to confirm the identity.. Its not about a picture its about a conversation or bank account details.. Forge this stuff is a crime.- Mark7 years agoSuper User IIIt is a crime. It doesn't stop people doing it though.
Unfortunately though as has been said without the phone or the secure code the accounts none recoverable.
Out of interest have you tried calling the number? If its live would the person maybe give you the number if you got one sent to them?
- joaochora7 years agoExplorer | Level 4
Well you are complicating what are so simple,
Lets review Dropbox Policy Privacy:
https://www.dropbox.com/privacy
"Account information. We collect, and associate with your account, the information you provide to us when you do things such as sign up for your account, upgrade to a paid plan, and set up two-factor authentication (like your name, email address, phone number, payment info, and physical address). Some of our Services let you access your accounts and your information via other service providers."
Well can you check if I have a physical address associatted to my dropbox? If I have, maybe you can resent me a code by postal service...
"Contacts. You may choose to give us access to your contacts to make it easy for you to do things like share and collaborate on Your Stuff, send messages, and invite others to use the Services. If you do, we’ll store those contacts on our servers for you to use."
I can provide many contacts of persons that entered in Dropbox through me. Only I know that right? That´s why I got almost 16gb of Dropbox..
"Usage information. We collect information related to how you use the Services, including actions you take in your account (like sharing, editing, viewing, and moving files or folders). We use this information to improve our Services, develop new services and features, and protect Dropbox users. Please refer to our FAQ for more information about how we use this usage information to improve our Services."
I can provide you informations about my folders. Only I know right? And as your terms say: "We use this information to improve our Services, develop new services and features, and protect Dropbox users". So maybe you can use it...
"Device information. We also collect information from and about the devices you use to access the Services. This includes things like IP addresses, the type of browser and device you use, the web page you visited before coming to our sites, and identifiers associated with your devices. Your devices (depending on their settings) may also transmit location information to the Services."
I need to say anything about this? I can provide you cell phone imei / mac addresses anything that you need. And this informations are related to devices that were previous connected in my dropbox account as I can see them in the trusted devices.
Thanks.
- Jay7 years agoDropbox Staff
joaochora wrote:"Account information. We collect, and associate with your account, the information you provide to us when you do things such as sign up for your account, upgrade to a paid plan, and set up two-factor authentication (like your name, email address, phone number, payment info, and physical address). Some of our Services let you access your accounts and your information via other service providers."
Physical addresses aren't associated with accounts, unless you're on a Business account or using manual invoices, as they're able to customize invoices for themselves. Even then, this information can't be used to regain access.
If this were the case, anyone could provide an address for a well-known company and ask for access to a random potential admin email, and if lucky, could get in.
"Contacts. You may choose to give us access to your contacts to make it easy for you to do things like share and collaborate on Your Stuff, send messages, and invite others to use the Services. If you do, we’ll store those contacts on our servers for you to use."
Note that it doesn't state that storing the contacts grants you to ability to access your account. If users could do that, we might have multiple accounts with the same contacts that could be breached.
"Usage information. We collect information related to how you use the Services, including actions you take in your account (like sharing, editing, viewing, and moving files or folders). We use this information to improve our Services, develop new services and features, and protect Dropbox users. Please refer to our FAQ for more information about how we use this usage information to improve our Services."
Again, this doesn't state you can use the information to help in regaining access to the account. What if your phone was taken and then they have access to the app? After verification of a few folders, the person could then take over your account entirely.
"Device information. We also collect information from and about the devices you use to access the Services. This includes things like IP addresses, the type of browser and device you use, the web page you visited before coming to our sites, and identifiers associated with your devices. Your devices (depending on their settings) may also transmit location information to the Services."
Once more, this cannot grant you access to the account, by simply knowing which devices you used to login to the app. Any person who has your devices could verify it very easily.
While it does seem that this is strict, these are security policies put in place to secure your data from any access. Even if you could provide an ID card, there's no log of it in the system to compare it to since we never requested it to begin with.
Only the emergency code can be used unfortunately.
- Mark7 years agoSuper User III can guarantee that even if you get to CEO level they wont let you access the account without the security you've set up - they've been exceptionally strict on this in the past.
Supervisors wont (and cant) override what the security team have said.
Without the systems you set up (i.e. the phone or security codes) that account is now lost.
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