Google deleting all recently inactive accounts without phone number

Google is now deleting all accounts that do not, and have never had, phone numbers associated with them if they haven't logged in within a year or so.

"Urgent: Sign in to your Google Account if you want to keep it"

But then it doesn't matter if you log in with the correct username and password and receive the PIN via your email. This is isn't enough. Unless a phone number is somehow added to the account one gets,

"You can’t recover your account at this time because Google doesn’t have enough info to be sure this account is yours."

This is despite having all information ever associated with the account. Unless that account has a phone number it will be deleted. This is a very shady dark pattern by Alphabet corporation.