Employee
•
166 Messages
The dreaded 205 error code - Information from the AT&T Community
Learn what is going on and what need to do to secure & update your email account
2/1/2023: Our teams are working on 2-Factor Authentication. This will be rolled out to a few customers to start. This will help increase security to prevent bad actors from attempting to access the account.
I know the 205 error code is a bit maddening, but we're here to explain why it's happening and what you can do to prevent it from occurring. In addition, our internet teams are aware of the problem and working quickly to resolve it. To regain access, you will need to reset your password and update your security questions.
The culprit?
We are in an age where everything is online and there are those out there taking advantage of that. These bad actors are trying to get into everything and anything like your emails, where this useful information is found. I wish it was something AT&T could control with a switch but at the end of the day, it is a bad actor on the other side of the keyboard. I myself fell victim to this when someone got access to one of my streaming accounts.
What AT&T is doing
AT&T Security is investigating this and blocking IP addresses of those bad actors who make these login attempts. We also are locking the accounts to protect your email. You may see alert codes like:
- Error code 205.2 - you'll have to wait a full 24 hours before resetting your password. Attempting to sign in before the full 24 hours will reset the 24-hour timer.
- Error code 203.3 or FL002 - you'll have to reach out to our teams directly.
On Friday, August 26, 2022, our teams began blocking VPN Providers that were allowing bad actors to target AT&T email. They also implement a backend fix alongside the blocks. The good news, we are seeing a reduction in attacks. We are NOT done though - because of the nature of the issue, our email teams will continue to monitor this and take action.
What you can do to get back into your email
- Clear cache and cookies
- Reset your password.
- Once reset, select "keep me signed in" - this can help prevent bad actors from accessing the account as well
There is a chance you are locked out and a password reset is the only way back in. Please note, that you may need to wait 24 hours before attempting a password reset, depending on if your account was targeted.
There are a few things you can do to protect yourself below.
Please note: AT&T is no longer able to provide verbal password resets due to security reasons. For both free and current internet subscribers, you can reset it online. For free accounts, security questions and recovery emails should have been set up prior.
Secure your email account
Learn what you need to do to make your email safe like changing your email password, securing your computer, and more.
Update your security questions & answers
- Go to Profile and then Sign-in info.
- In the Online security questions section, select Change security questions.
- Complete and save your security questions and answers.
Learn more about security questions.
Don't out your email for offers or prizes
Unfortunately, there are some offers and sites that are too good to be true and these nefarious parties take advantage of that. So, be careful with what you share. I tend to give an email that is not associated with my main email I use for bills or personal communications, I use a generic one.
Secure your device
As with above, there are some sites out there that are hot spots for viruses. Untrustworthy sites are a hotbed for digital thievery. You can protect yourself by only visiting trusted sites and protecting your browsing experience with virus protection for your computer or device. AT&T does offer a security suite for qualifying internet subscriptions. At the end of the day, virus protection can help make sure your experience is more secure.
If you have other questions regarding your email experience, please visit our AT&T Email Forums Support Page.
ChrisZ, AT&T Community Specialist
*I am an AT&T employee, and the postings on this site are my own and don't necessarily represent AT&T's position, strategies or opinions.
brian_1
New Member
•
46 Messages
8 months ago
OMG - that's the fix? I think it's easier to defuse a rogue nuke.
I log in (yes, keep me logged in) on a private window firefox tab on my laptop and never close it. I can access my att.net mails for at least a couple days, sometimes 2-3 before "nefarious players" intercede and I have to do the (Edited per community guidelines) shuffle again (reset password to same one). In fact my access has held up maybe 4 days this time, crazy.
As an aside, I have noticed an absolute explosion of (Edited per community guidelines)ic att.net spam in 2023 mostly weird titles like " YoUhAvEWoNaFrEeLaPtoP"
What gives? Is att trying even harder to makes us go away?
(edited)
0
0
Kikib99
New Member
•
22 Messages
8 months ago
Well, my three e mails work on all devices. It only took one entire year to get this information. You have to go into your att profile and get a secure key for each e mail. It has been 24 hours so far and it works. Good Luck. Hope it works for you too!
0
0
ctleng76
Tutor
•
15 Messages
8 months ago
Here we are 7 months later and the problems are still there. I ONLY have this with AT&T. I am not so sure that this is always bad actors. I think there is a bug in AT&T's security that is falsely triggering this. Lately it only happens if I try to login to the AT&T website. I can logout and login to my email all day long and no issues. As soon as I try to log into the web site, I get the dreaded error message. They are the same account. If it was compromised by too many false logins, then logging out of my email and back in would trigger it as well as they are the same login. I think AT&T has a bug on their hands they don't know how to fix, and the "bad actors" are just a convenient scapegoat. Spectrum internet (the only one offering Fiber to me by the way), is looking better and better every day.
0
0
brian_1
New Member
•
46 Messages
8 months ago
I think it's like an old version of Windows, when the company no longer supports the software. You can keep using the OS but there will be no more bug fixes or updates, and usually 3rd party applications also become obsolete over time. Microsoft is nice enough to announce that Version whatever expires on a certain date and you should upgrade before then.
Here we have ATT and they no longer support the ATT.NET app, only no official notice was given. You can keep using it for now, but in the future no support will be provided and no bug fixes or upgrades are coming. There may be some kludges for now, but best to upgrade to another email service.
So I decided to respond by upgrading my ATT internet access to T-Mobil, figuring why send 1000s to ATT when they won't support simple things like an email server.
I will use work-arounds until the ATT.NET system just quits working altogether, then transit to GMAIL. I already forward all ATT.NET email traffic to that site, no problems at all, plus enjoy only 1% of the spam I get on ATT.NET.
Thanks for the memories.
0
0
Yahoo_Forum_User_801628
New Member
•
4 Messages
6 months ago
I have a new cell phone (and number since I also had to change carriers). When I tried to update that info in my Yahoo! email account, it got the dreaded 204.2 [LU003] error code.
So now AT&T tries to send a temporary code to me at the very email I cannot successfully log into and it still shows my old cell phone number (that I need to be able to log into my account in order to update it)! And AT&T's support (at least, the 2 I talked to today) don't know what they're doing or don't care to help. So I'm having to wait 24 hours and I still won't be able to get in and make changes since it's set up to send my code to an email I can't get inside and a phone number that I can no longer access.
This is insane!
0
0
brian_1
New Member
•
46 Messages
5 months ago
att.net is dead, time to move on.
plus nowdays I receive 300 spam emails every day, ATT.NET wants me to F.O.N.D.
0
0
sigmawill
New Member
•
3 Messages
5 months ago
Hello could you assist me with getting a temporary password to my sbcglobal account. I am unable to do this online because it will not take an email address. I have fill out multiple online forms to have the account unlocked but have been unable to get any help.
0
0
M_Cherry
New Member
•
20 Messages
5 months ago
@sigmawill I am not an employee or representative of AT&T. I was locked out for almost 8 weeks last year. Yes, they wanted some security questions answered and a backup email (a gmail account), and then it's a 30 day wait. What no one tells you up front, every time you try to log into the account the 30 day clock is reset as they see you logging in as proof of a hacker. What finally helped me the most was going to an AT&T executive office (which was located in the THIRD AT&T retail store that I went to). I showed them multiple forms of i.d. wanting to verify my existence. I was told to wait maybe another 2 weeks and then try. I was so scared to try since it would've reset the clock to another 30 days. Thankfully, it worked and I gained access to the account. I have set up email forwarding (for $5/mth to yahoo) from that account. Still, every time I log into that account (which I try not to), I need to reset my password with a security code sent to my gmail. Good luck!
0
0
beckyisfrustratedwithyou
New Member
•
4 Messages
5 months ago
If you can't sign into your sbcglobal email, you can't import to gmail.com. This solves nothing. A week locked out and nothing from ATT.
0
0