See why Google may delete your Gmail account

Users will receive several warning emails before the deletion of the account takes place.

One user said he received a warning in January that his Google account will be deleted on September 20 unless action is taken.

Therefore, Google and Gmail users have been asked to check accounts urgently in case they have received the same email.

Ruth Kricheli, VP, Product Management at Google, said last year: “If an account hasn’t been used for an extended period of time, it is more likely to be compromised.”

Ms Kricheli added that the change is necessary to “protect our users from security threats, like spam, phishing scams and account hijacking.”

Forgotten or unattended accounts are much more likely to have been compromised than accounts that are actively maintained.

This is because old accounts often rely on out-of-date or re-used passwords and are 10 times less likely to have two-factor authentication set up, according to an internal analysis by Google.

“These accounts are often vulnerable, and once an account is compromised, it can be used for anything from identity theft to a vector for unwanted or even malicious content, like spam,” Ms Kricheli added.

MailOnline