j4tech's comments

I should have been a more clear. I flashed Merlin firmware on the new router. Not on my laptop.

Good point @davidmitchell2. I will do that.

I was NEVER prompted for a phone number or given a warning that I will not be able to access my account if I didnt have one. (Maybe because i already had one on the account and removed it?. Not sure). However, off and on , google would prompt me for my recovery email and I had no problem accessing my account using that.

I am reaching out to my friends to find out if they know any one at google.

I reached out to financial institutions where I have an account. In addition to changing the email id, I am exploring all possible means to ensure that the id of the person requesting an outbound transaction for the account is doubly verified. Unfortunately, risk management office is closed over the weekend.

Other tips on backups and phone/pc resets noted.

I live in US

Thank you. I was wondering if having my own domain would be a better option...

Keeping fingers crossed

1. My new Asus RT AX86U had Merlin installed on it. I disconnected this router after I started getting security alerts and switched to using the router provided by my Service provider.

2. I use firefox with cookie cleaner add-on that clears cookies the second I close the tab.

3. I have a paper copy of the account details and I am 100% sure of my recovery email. I got a Yubi key recently and plan to use that and authenticators on all my accounts.

I totally agree with you. That was a mistake on my part . I had my number on the account a few months back.But my thinking was similar to what @orblivion posted below

"Because I've been warned by security conscious people never to use phone number as a 2FA because it's so insecure, and using it as a recovery option seems to create an even weaker link.". I happened to read so many articles in the recent past of SIM Swapping, that I was afraid to use my cellphone number as 2FA and removed it from my gmail account. What with Google being evil and all

Lightning struck very close to my apartment and fried all equipment that was connected using Ethernet cable (cable modem/ router/VOIP unit, Roku). My TV was spared.

The apartment has a circuit breaker (which tripped) and I have a surge protector as well.

Did some research and read that a Surge protector with "Catastrophic Event protection" feature would have helped. This feature fries the surge protector instead of the equipment connected to it. A note from the mfr of the product I am considering buying: "most surge suppressors continue to let power through even after circuits have been damaged, leaving your equipment exposed to other damaging surges." The surge protector I have does mention that power will pass thru it, if power surge is more than what the suppressor can handle. HTH.