ExpressVPN extension is messing up my Google, even when it is turned off and I cleared cache and history and rebooted and use Chrome/Brave. My Google logins show I am in Washington, which is the state i often set my VPN to, instead of my country Japan. So when i log into Gmail it things I’m from Washington. When i go to Google maps it things I’m living in Washington. I turned location settings on in my Google Account and tried to hit the location icon in Google maps and nothing until I removed the Express VPN extension. ExpressVPN help told me they don’t have Split Tunneling for Mac users and recommended I try using Safari but the extension is only for Chrome/Brave so I am guessing he wants me to use the Express VPN app with Safari when i watch movies. Does anyone else have ths problem and how do you deal with it?
It became a problem because my x.com account got hacked. I tried to get it back but when I try to login and reply to the email and show I am in Japan they keep seeing I am in Washington (I often used my VPN set to Seattle). And to make matters more complicated the suspicious login X.com sent me came from WashingtonDC. I got a series of emails 10 days ago about a suss login from DC and all in a minute or two the account got a one-time recovery code and added 2fa and changed the password. I can change the password and still have my original email I made Twitter with but they put an authenticator on that i can’t bypass. I was recommended to keep logging in to X.com with my email and my Japan ip and then reply to X.com’s message so they can verify but it was tough when Google keeps listing me from Seattle Washington and the hacker is listed from Washington DC.
Well that is definitely weird… I’ll speak with the engineers and see what I can find out for you. In the meantime, can you share your support ticket number here and I can ask customer support to reach out if we find anything?
I’m having the same issue with the extension in Brave. It explains why I’m constently getting USA search/location results when searching from Australia.
After reading this post I’ve turned off location spoofing.
Well thank you so much! I found out to remove the ExpressVPN browser extension because someone somewhere else line had the same problem and that solved it for them too. I will try using the ExpressVPN and use Safari for movie watching only and hope Good/Gmail on Chrome/Brave keep the proper location. Oh I talked in the chat box to Shane on the ExpressVPN webpage, he simply told me to try watching my movies in a different browser like Safari or DuckDuck instead of Chrome/Brave when I generally log into Gmail/Google.
Edit/update: I just went to the website and only see a chat option, nowhere to file a problem and get a support ticket “Get 24/7 live support. Can’t find what you are looking for? Ask your questions via live chat and get dedicated help.” I’m a customer in Japan, not sure if that makes a difference.
I did and it didn’t change anything, only when I removed the ExpressVPN Chrome/Brave extension and go to Google Maps and click the location icon did it finally update to the correct country. Clicking it before when I had Express VPN plugin installed but off (and cookies and cache and history cleared) would just give me an error that it couldn’t locate me, even after turning on location history in my Google account.
I guess it’s a bug. When the extension (remote for the app) is off it should not continue to spoof but it does and they are aware of this. After disabling spoofing it took a week or two and now my search/location are accurate. With spoofing off a few streaming movies don’t play right and we run the risk of out actual ip to leak but so far it doesn’t seem to have leaked anywhere. If you need to spoof then temporarily turn it on whole streaming and I also stay logged out of gmail on any browser and when I am done streaming I turn spoofing off (but I rarely need to do this, most videos play fine on Netflix/Prime).
I’ve done some digging with the engineers and we’ve figured it out - looks like it’s to do with the “Spoof your location” setting, which if activated will continue spoofing even if the VPN isn’t connected. We’re going to dig deeper into the logic we’re using and consider whether to clarify with a notification that it’s still spoofing, or change the logic so it’s only active with the VPN.
Hi, thank you so much for digging around and for the information you got. I wondered if the spoofing had anything to do with it, that’s interesting to know that it continues even with the extension turned off. I’ve decided just to use the VPN on the Brave browser and not on the chrome. After doing this now, it no longer says I’m from Washington DC, but just USA, hopefully it will soon reflect that I’m actually in Japan, Google maps has caught up and now reflects them from Japan. I don’t feel comfortable joining the Advanced protection program unless it’s showing the proper sign in location, cause that’s gonna make it harder to recover my account if I ever need it. I can’t seem to recover my x.com account. Strangely whoever hacked into x.com account a couple weeks ago was also listed from coming from Washington DC, but it was done during the hours I was asleep. Maybe they’re using ExpressVPN as well or just a fluke, but I’m sure it confuses x.com who might’ve also been seeing me login from Washington DC as well. Because when I tell them those changes that were made two weeks ago were not me and we’re done while I was asleep, they just reply. Your account looks like it’s in your possession and no longer respond. Even when I further explain, they just asked me the same five questions like what is my username and email etc and I never hear back from them. So I hope to correct this because it’s hard to recover accounts.
Yeah, that would be great. If the spoofing stopped once you’re logged out and or they had some kind of a notification to let you know when it’s still spoofing, but still would be nice to have an option to turn off the spoofing. Otherwise, you just gotta use it in a different browser that you don’t use for logging into important accounts that need to know where you’re located from.
Thank you very much and I look back for any more news. Google support had no idea what was going on, but figured it was probably ExpressVPN then ExpressVPN customer service wasn’t really sure what to do. Thank you, you’ve probably been the most helpful for sure.
Hi yet again. I turned spoofing off (and ExpressVpn off)and my Google logins finally show Japan! So it was the spoofing causing the Google sign-in and Google maps to show the wrong country, even with the extension off. But some Netflix shows won’t play until I turn spoofing back on, the page will just hangs. Thanks for finding the solution! I hope the tech team at ExpressVPN can make a way to turn spoofing off when ExpressVPN is off.
More than happy to help, I work closely with the engineers at ExpressVPN and they’re always kind enough to help me dig into these things. I’m glad I could get you answers and I’ll work closely with the relevant people on our side to make sure this feature is optimised and clear. If you experience any other issues, please don’t hesitate to reach out. You’ll either hear from me or one of my wonderful colleagues.
I’m sorry I can’t help you with your X account recovery. I wonder if there’s a way to submit a technical support ticket for them? The hacker could’ve been using any VPN to access your account. X may think it looks like normal activity because of having different IPs from the same region accessing.
Hey I had another problem with ExpressVPN. I stopped using it on Chrome So I can get my Gmail logins to show up correctly my Japanese IP. I started using Brave browser instead with the Express VPN extension but when I went to buy my lottery ticket in Chrome it said I was buying from NY. When i turned the Brave ExpressVPN extension off then Chrome saw I was buying from Japan. I thought the Express VPN extension just worked on the browser it was added as an extension and turned on? I don’t even have the Express VPN extension on my Chrome browser. It is kind of sad it leaks over. I feel I have to remove it from my Mac and only use it on my iPad. Let me know if you have nay thoughts on this. Thanks again and happy weekend!
Hi again! With Express VPN extension in Brave on and set to NY and spoofing set to off in Chrome I have a Pennsylvania ip (but turning spoofing off may show the real ip). Same settings but spoofing turned back on in Chrome I have a NY ip. Wth the extension in Brave turned off then while I am in Chrome I have my regular Japanese ip. I wanted to multi-task and use my Gmail and certain sites/aps with my real ip, while in Brave watching movies/surfing on a US ip. I did talk to ExpressVPN live chat and they said the extension is just a remote for the app and it will effect everything, not just the browser I have the extension turned on. Thanks for the reply.