Make sure someone hasn't hacked your password. When logged into Gmail scroll the the bottom of the page and you'll see a line "Last account activity" and click on the "Details" link next to it. It should show you the last dozen or so times the account was accessed and from what IP address.
If messages are deleted they are held in the trashcan for 30 days unless manually cleared.
It might be a good idea to change your password anyway.
Actually, a week before this happened, Gmail said that it thinks there was suspicious activity and suggested I change my password. So I did. Now I have the problem! Go figure.
---------- Post added at 08:39 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:37 AM ----------
This is what I got when I went to Google Help:
Google Help to me
show details 2:34 PM (18 hours ago)
bkc56 has posted an answer to the question "Between Saturday & Sunday (6/4 & 6/5), somehow, Emails (Inbox,Sent, Drafts, and Trash) were wiped out. So were all of my":
It's possible that your account was compromised and
everything deleted. If so, you need to change your password and verify
all your other security and account settings (see http://knol.google.com/k/the-c-man/...ywla4ku/7?pli=1#When_you_reclaim_Your_Account
and see the links below about possible recovery of the lost e-mail).
It's
also possible you have forwarding, filters, or POP/IMAP enabled and
operating on your messages. It could even be confusion on the
difference between labels and folders.
Have you looked in All Mail and Trash for the missing information? Have you used Search to try and find it?
Unfortunately, messages permanently deleted from Trash or Spam can not be recovered. Sorry.
This
is why some people do their own backups of their Gmail accounts. That
way if the account is compromised and everything deleted they have a way
to recover their e-mail history and contacts.
Hey Jim,
I'm sorry but I would not settle there. I absolutely positively in no way believe that statement "Unfortunately, messages permanently deleted from Trash or Spam can not be recovered. Sorry." Google holds on to everything. I would try to get on the phone with someone with a heartbeat and go from there....
And a week prior they suspected something to be going on but didnt recommend you back up everything? I think I'd play this ticket to get them to try a little harder at a restoration
Also, if this happened after suspicious activity and after you changed your password because of it, I'd be concerned with possible PC infection, ie a keylogger, that could be recording changes you make in passwords. Just a word of caution, be careful, and run a few scans just to double check
hmm... sound like a scam to me. Did the email asking you to change your password contain a link to login page?I'm following up on this. I'm wondering if the request to change my password was bogus.