Pokemon Go player loses account of 7-years after missing one security question

One challenging security question from Niantic sees a Pokemon Go player losing a whopping 7 years of game progress.

CAPTCHAs, two-factor authentication, security questions: they’re all irritating but necessary measures taken in order to protect your accounts. Sometimes, however, the rigidity of account security systems works against us.

One Pokemon Go trainer received an unpleasant reminder of just how unyielding the authentication process be after they lost access to their 7-year-old Pokemon Go account for being unable to answer one of their security questions.

The player, then in the 6th grade, created their account on the Niantic app in 2016. Due to having strict parents, their only email address was one affiliated with their school’s IT system. So, they registered for Pokemon Go using this address, unaware that the login credentials for the email would be rendered invalid by 2023.

Security question costs 7-years of Pokemon Go progress

Game Freak / The Pokemon Company

Pokemon Go player was locked out of 7-year-old account for being unable to answer one security question.

After getting in contact with Niantic customer support, they were asked 10 questions to confirm their identity as the owner of the account. According to the Pokemon Go player, they were able to answer all but one of these correctly.

Their missing answer was the in-app purchase balance on the account. Predictably, they were immensely frustrated by this outcome, saying: “I knew all of them except for ONE which was my current in-app purchase balance. How am I supposed to know my IAP on an account I’ve held since 2016??”.

They explained that despite them being incredibly forthcoming with additional information such as their recent trades, their level, the creation date of their account, and their entire mobile device history, Niantic refused to reinstate access to the account until they could answer that one outstanding security question.

With an “unhelpful” response from Niantic customer support, for now the Pokemon Go fan is forced to contend with the reality that their “shinies are gone, legends are gone, and the money spent […] is wasted”.

What’s more, the painful prospect of starting anew is worsened by the rurality of the user’s area, which said impedes their capacity to level up.