I have been using Gmail for about 3 years now and have been very happy with it.

Until now.

During the last one week I have experienced something strange with Gmail. On 3 occasions, I was automatically logged out of Gmail and when I tried to log in again I was greeted by the following message.

The message reads:

Our system indicates unusual usage of your account. In order to protect Gmail users from potentially harmful use of Gmail, this account has been disabled for up to 24 hours.

If you are using any third party software that interacts with your Google Mail account, please disable it or adjust it so that its use complies with the Google Mail Terms of Use. If you feel that you have been using your Google Mail account according to the Terms of Use or otherwise normally, please contact us using this form to report this problem.

I am sure I did nothing that could be called ‘Unusual Usage’ unless checking your mail 10 to 20 times a day can be called unusual. I tried to login a couple of times but the same result.
I was really scared to read the part that says ‘this account has been disabled for up to 24 hours.’ I was expecting some important mails and I just couldn’t wait for 24 hrs.

Fortunately, when I tried after 10 mins, I was able to login and things were back to normal.

I tried looking up the problem on the web (using Google, what else?) and it looks like I am not the only one who has had the problem. A lot of people are grumbling about it in recent times.

I hope Google sets right the problem soon. I wouldn’t want to risk not being able to check my mails when I want to.