We were told by ATT that our email password cannot be reset, and we can never get in again. PLEASE HELP!!

First off, it's not a ploy to phase out old accounts since this also affects att.net accounts.  Besides, the affected accounts are a very small subset of all of the Yahoo/AT&T accounts out there.

As you discovered, this issue is now over a year old and 5 months since AT&T disclosed the cause.  What happened on Sept 1st was they instituted a policy of no more temporary passwords for accounts that didn't have the necessary verification info in the AT&T database.  While I'm sorry your son's account fell into that category, this policy is the only smart move AT&T has made during this whole fiasco.  Imagine the havoc a hacker could cause in his life if they could just call up and pretend to be him and get a free pass.

It appears that the security question database is also fubar'd because people with answers to questions are told they're wrong, people with no security questions are told AT&T has a record of some and some people have questions they've never choose, like name of city where you met your spouse when they have never been married.

Maybe you can get some sympathy (and action) by filing an FCC claim, which is really just a way to get the AT&T Office of the President people to call you so you can plead your case.

Fill out the form HERE.

Once the OoP people get the notice they should respond to it within 24 hrs (sometimes even on weekends).  After you submit, make sure you're ready to get a call from a number that isn't familiar.  If you miss it your chances of calling back and getting a successful result goes down.

Good luck!

Oh, and if by sheer luck your son can get back in, I'd suggest using something like the Gmail Import tool to copy all of his email and contacts to a Gmail account because it's only a matter of time before you might get locked out again or some other disaster will strike Yahoo/AT&T accounts.

THANK YOU tonydi!!!

I filed a complaint with the FCC last night.  Today I got a call from the Office of the President.  The person I spoke with had the capability to get my son back online.  He has a new password, a recovery email, and 2 security questions filled out.  He also has a Gmail account and will probably migrate over to that!  He could not (nor could any of us in the family) use one of our phone numbers for recovery because we do not have an ATT phone number.  The person from the OoP did not know that policy.  She double checked on her end and verified that your recovery phone number does indeed need to be with AT&T.  So much for that option.  Did care much for the security questions either.  Almost none applied for us and there was no option to create your own like some companies have.  While I got lucky and you answered my plea with great advice, I feel badly about all the other people out there that just accepted the first answer I got that there was nothing anyone could do to get the email back.  I asked the OoP about that.  She said other people could file a complaint with the FCC as well, and that really is the only way to get your email back.  Sad.   But we are very happy and thankful that you guided us in the right direction.  Bless you for your time!

That's just great news, Cathy.  It's results like yours that make volunteering here worth the time and effort and make me forget all the abuse some of the bozos spew because they think ACE's are shills for AT&T or whatever.

Did you end up having any sort of identifying info in the AT&T database that allowed them to verify that you were the true owner of the account? 

Yes, the AT&T mobile number requirement boggles the mind, but then again most AT&T policies boggle the mind.

No, we had no extra identifying information in the AT&T database today... nothing more than what I told customer service or tech support or management the day before.   Of course, I had to verify my phone number associated with the account plus address and pin number, but I supplied all that the day before.  The only extra thing she asked me to do differently to authenticate the account was to call her back after she called me.   Odd, especially since we were communicating via the contact number I provided in my complaint and not on my number associated with my account.  Didn't make sense to me but I did it and she answered. Not sure what that was supposed to do.   Also, I was told today that my husband is the account owner.  I didn't realize that, but nonetheless, I was able to proceed since I had all the correct information for authentication. It was so easy today when yesterday everyone said it was impossible.

Interesting.  Hard to say but it almost sounds like they just decided to ignore the new policy in your case.

Oh well, gift horse, mouth, glad it worked out.  😁

PLEASE HELP !!! I have had my email for 26 years and was locked  for "fraudulent reasons" and now I can't reset my password. I have been calling everyday for 1 week

Your best chance is to file with the FCC.  I was told that is the only way.  

We're here to assist with your email access, @Cuestayf!

Let's move this conversation into  direct message, this way we can see what we can do on our end for you. Be on the lookout for a chat notification in the upper right-hand portion of the page, next to the bell icon. 

We look forward to speaking with you!

CalebP, AT&T Community Specialist 

Did filing with the FCC work for you @EUREKACATHY ? I have tried for a week with many representatives and they basically sorry get a new account 

@tonydi @Can you help? My patience is done with this manipulative nonsense.