Genealogy Chat

Next month, BT will start deleting all BT Yahoo Mail accounts that have not been used for 150 days. The clock started ticking on the 18th January so the first deletions are due to start on the 17th June.

Accounts affected usually end in @btintenet.com or @openworld.com

If you have one of these accounts but only access it occasionally when you don't wish to use your main email address then you need to sign in at least once every 150 days to prevent it being removed.

I thought all 'temporary' email accounts were deleted after a certain amount of time anyway.

Does 'signing in' with Microsoft Outlook count?

IGP, where did you hear about this?

A friend received an email from bt.coms which was about these deletions. It contained a telephone number to call. She ignored this number and contacted BT who told her that this was a scam and that they never send out this type of email.

Just done a quick google search and it seems that this scam has been around since 2010:
http://community.bt.com/t5/Other-BB-Queries/Who-in-BT-do-I-report-this-scam-email-to/td-p/9792

Also here:

http://www.millersmiles.co.uk/email/account-closurewarning-bt-yahoo

Really? It looks very 'official'

Return address
BT broadband [[email protected]]

Your Classic version of BT Yahoo! Mail is closing.
You need to upgrade now

Hello,

The Classic version of BT Yahoo! Mail will be replaced by our new version on 3 June 2013. So it's time to upgrade, before you lose your email access.

When you upgrade your BT Yahoo! Mail
Your email service won't be affected and you'll keep all your old contacts, folders and messages. Plus you'll get:

faster email
the latest spam protection
unlimited email storage.

How you upgrade
Click on the link below and follow the instructions. You'll also need to agree to some new terms and conditions.


If your browser displays a message saying it won't support the new version of BT Yahoo! Mail, you'll need to update your browser (it's easy and free) then you can go on to upgrade.

If you don't upgrade now
If you want to carry on getting your emails, you need to upgrade now, because the Classic version of BT Yahoo! Mail will stop working after 3 June.

Got a question?
For more information, help or to get in touch, go to bt.com/help/newmail.


Thanks for choosing BT.

Warren Buckley
Managing Director, Customer Service

DET ...................


did you hover your mouse pointer over that URL???


If it is official, it will show the same address



I've had some very official looking emails, from institutions that I do use ..................... until I hover the pointer over the URL given

It says
http:// email.planning-inc.co.uk………… and a lot more that disappears too quickly to copy

http://bt.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/43867/

Phew! Thanks IGP. Sylvia and Potty were getting me all worried for a moment ;-)

From IGP's link
Don't worry, your email account will keep working as long as:

you continue to log in and use it from bt.yahoo.com, or
you continue to log in and use it from your computer email software (such as Microsoft Outlook or Mozilla Thunderbird), or your mobile email software, or
you have Auto Forward set up.

So that's us off the hook :-D

It is relevant to those who only use their account occasionally, as I said in the OP. If it is your main account then no worries.

sorry, DET!!!


It was just that I have had somer very official looking communications in the last couple of months ................ including from my email provider ............... that have proved to be scams when I use the "pointer"



I must say that you guys in England seem to have far more problems with your emails that we do on this side of the Pond!


I can't count the number of times I've heard over the last 9 or 10 years about people having to change email addresses, email providers changing their service, things like the one on this thread, etc.


I've had the same home email address and server since I got broadband internet in 2003


I wonder why there is such a big difference????

Well, to me the email seems to be saying something different to the BT website. The website says that unused addresses are being cancelled whilst the email says they are being upgraded and the URL does not seem to be anything connected to BT.

As I said, a friend who had received the email contacted BT and was told the email wasn't from them.

If anyone using BT as their ISP receives this email I think it would be better to contact BT direct via your account rather than risk answering a scam mail.

Guessing reasons for differences –

An internet provider will give a free email address.
The provider merges with a different one. Eventually the branding of the smaller provided is brought into line with the major one so the email address which used that name has to change.

With the introduction of Cable and Satellite companies, more Internet providers owned by those are coming on the scene. People chop and change to save money hence they could lose the email address provided by their previous supplier.
They could also be changing because they don’t have very good support when things go wrong.

We could probably ‘bundle’ TV, phone and broadband and get a cheaper deal via Sky, but as we’ve had problems at the telephone exchange, which Sky also has to use in our area, we prefer to go to the BT source as it were.

Potty – We’ve also received an email from BT regarding the withdrawal of their Digital Vault if it hasn’t been accessed for some time. It’s the same format and from the same email address as the one regarding @Btinternet.com email addresses. It also includes the password we’d need to access the Vault. I’m now convinced both are genuine.

Well, I have just spoken to my friend's husband, and she contacted BT by phone and was told that these emails are a scam.

We are with BT and haven't received an email. If they are contacting all their customers, why haven't we received the mail?

This is what it says on the BT website, completely different to the email:

From 17 June 2013, the terms and conditions for accessing the email that comes with your BT Broadband – BT Yahoo! Mail will change.

All BT Broadband customers have a BT Yahoo! Mail address (usually ending in @btinternet.com or @openworld.com), but not everyone wants to use it. So we've decided to close email accounts that haven't been used for more than 150 days. To do this, we need to change our terms.

After 17 June 2013 we will begin to close email accounts that haven’t been used for more than 150 days. This will delete the email address and all the contents of the mailbox.

Don't worry, your email account will keep working as long as:

•you continue to log in and use it from bt.yahoo.com, or
•you continue to log in and use it from your computer email software (such as Microsoft Outlook or Mozilla Thunderbird), or your mobile email software, or
•you have Auto Forward set up.
If you haven’t used your email account since 18 Jan 2013, or if you’re not sure when you last logged in – and still want to keep it – just log in before 17 June and at least once every 150 days after. If you can’t remember your log-in details, you’ll need to reset them online:

Also from BT website:

Changes to the new BT Yahoo! Mail

We have recently made changes to the BT Yahoo! Mail service. These changes are mostly cosmetic and are aimed at improving your experience. There should be no impact on how things work: in fact the changes should help speed things up.

If you are using the New BT Yahoo Mail service then you will see the changes next time you log in. Users of Classic Mail will be unaffected by these changes.

Please be aware that we have not sent you an email about this change and we will never ask you to validate your account details by clicking on a link in an email. Always be on guard against fraudulent phishing emails.

I don't want to worry people but please take the advice in that last sentence.

If you think about it, its rather silly. If you don't log into the Yahoo account very often, you'll never know that you've received the email(s) :-D

The inlaws had trouble accessing their BT email account a few weeks ago. They eventually asked their grandson to try. He spent ages on the phone to BT and eventually got it sorted out.

There were loads of emails from BT saying that the account had been compromised and that they should do x, y and z. Except.......they couldn't access the account :-D :-D