I was once (not long ago) locked out of a Gmail account until I used a VPN to login from the last country I lived and had used the account, then it promptly let

I was once (not long ago) locked out of a Gmail account until I used a VPN to login from the last country I lived and had used the account, then it promptly let me in. But otherwise there was nothing at all I could do to login, as it claimed it wasn't sure I was who I am. Considering how often people move between countries, this surprised me.