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A few years ago i signed up for 3-4 free email accounts at Yandex just in case they might come in handy. Never really got around to using them much and then in the last year or so i tested them just to see if they were still usable and on trying to sign in Yandex would have a popup that said

"Account access restricted - Attackers may have gained access to your account."

and their "remedy" was for me to link my sell number to the account in question.

I never bothered to do this of course but a few days ago i noticed that Yandex apparently offers IMAP with their free email accounts so i thought i'd try again and everything seemed to work for a few days and then lo and behold this morning i get the same BS message "Attackers may have gained access to your account (so give us your cell phone number)"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yandex
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yandex#Security

Yeah, they do that just a few weeks after registration. It's complete BS of course. Been going on for years. Basically delaying what in reality is a phone requirement for registration for those uncomfortable with adding one from the outset.

Eventually someone added this as a note to Wikipedia's 'Comparison of email services' page.

Specular wrote: ↑Thu Feb 11, 2021 8:22 pm Yeah, they do that just a few weeks after registration. It's complete BS of course. Been going on for years. Basically delaying what in reality is a phone requirement for registration for those uncomfortable with adding one from the outset.

Eventually someone added this as a note to Wikipedia's 'Comparison of email services' page.

the only one i know that still has free IMAP and no phone number requirement is GMX mail

Gmail has been after me for what seems like a few years now, maybe once a month, to give them a cell number as part of the recovery process for a lost password... they've had on file for nearly a decade an alternative email address (not Gmail), I still use it, and I regularly confirm for Gmail I got their latest message to consider adding a cell number. I hope they don't force me to give em a number, I won't, I'll drop Gmail instead.

They do that just a few weeks after registration.