Here is how this scam works. The victim receives a text asking whether they’ve requested a password reset for their Gmail account – and, if not, to reply with the word ‘STOP’. Don’t fall for it.
If you respond with ‘STOP’, you are urged to send the 6 digit numerical code in order to prevent the password being changed.
Of course what is really happening is that the scammer has requested a password change on your account. That request sends a code to the real account owner to verify that they actually want the password changed. And by sending the attacker that code back, you’re enabling the bad guys to complete the password change, and now they have access to the account and all the email.
Remember that Gmail, or any other web email service, will never ask if you *don’t* want to do something with your account. You didn’t ask for a password reset, so you shouldn’t be asked about one.
Do not reply to the text (doing so will tell the scammers that they have reached a valid number). And to prevent losing your account to bad guys, it’s a very good idea to have 2-step verification set up on your Google account
