Keep your email account safe

At Sky, we take the security of our customers’ data and information extremely seriously.

You may have seen Yahoo's most recent announcement that user account information was stolen from its network. If you use Sky Yahoo Mail we'd advise that you change your password to help keep your email account safe.

You can also find Yahoo’s statement in full here.

You don't need to call us, you can reset your password quickly and easily online.

If you're using an email client, read our Updating email clients with your new password article, to sync the password, update the email client password and also check the settings if required.

• What should you do if you suspect your account has been compromised?

  Change your password
  

  Reset your password straight away. Make sure the new one is strong and is made up of at least six characters and a combination of letters, numbers and symbols. Never use a password that you've used before.

  Check your account information
  

  To view and change your account information:

  1. Hover over the gear icon in the top right corner of the screen.
     
  2. Select Settings.
     
  3. Select Accounts from the left hand menu.
     
  4. Select your Sky Yahoo Mail account.
     

  Information changes to look out for include:

  • Your full name – if it's been changed, reset it.
    
  • Your default language – if it’s been changed, reset it.
    
  • Your Reply-to address – if it’s been changed to something other than your sky.com email address, click the drop down arrow and select your sky.com account.
  • A signature in the signature box. If you don’t recognise it, delete it.
  • A forwarding address has been set up without your knowledge – if so, unselect Forward by selecting POP.
  • Unknown filters have been set up. To check, select Filters on the left-hand menu – if any have been set up without your permission, select each one and click Remove.

  Make sure you click Save before you leave the page.

• What's the advert at the top of your Sky Yahoo Mail inbox?

  The advert at the top of your inbox isn't spam and you'll only be taken to the advert page if you click on the message box. While it isn’t possible to close the advert, it won’t affect how you open emails.

• What are the signs that your account may have been hacked?

  There are measures in place to detect suspicious activity on your account. Sometimes this can result in your account being locked, so you’ll need to contact us to unlock it.

  However, you may notice some signs that your account has been compromised before it's been locked, such as:

  • Your Sky Yahoo Mail sending you spam or completely blank emails.
    
  • Emails in your sent folder that you haven't sent.
    
  • You aren’t receiving expected emails.
    
  • Failed delivery messages when sending regular emails.
    
  • Account information being changed without you knowing.
    

• What different types of fraudulent emails are there?

  The most common fraudulent email is spam, which tries to sell you products or services you’ve not requested or don’t want, in an attempt to get money or personal details from you. The spam could be unintentional, arriving from a computer that has been infected with a virus.

  Phishing emails pretend to be from banks or other organisations, and attempt to get confidential information from you, such as credit card or account sign in details.

• What are the most common email scams?
  Problems with your account: You're told to update or verify your personal details due to a problem with your account. The email will feature familiar logos and include a link that takes you to a website imitating the real thing, where you’re asked to enter your account details.
  

  Software updates or validation: You're asked to download software to your computer or personal device. The software will contain malware or viruses, and could either give partial or full control of your device to its creator, or damage your computer.

  Advance fee fraud: You receive an email from a supposed wealthy foreigner who needs to move large amounts of money from their country to yours. You’ll be offered a large percentage of this cash, but you’ll have to provide a small fee or your account details to help arrange the transfer.

  Prize fraud: You’re told you’ve won a cash prize and are asked for your bank details so the money can be transferred.

  Scientific breakthrough: These emails promise revolutionary medication that can help you lose weight or cure illnesses. You give them your bank details to set up a Direct Debit, and the product either doesn’t arrive or fails to work.

  An ‘OMG’ video: An email with a subject line like ‘OMG somebody was taping you!’. Never click on the embedded link within such emails.

  Common indicators of scam emails include:

  • Poor grammar, spelling mistakes or suspicious attachments.
    
  • Offers that seem too good to be true or have limited availability.
    
  • Requests to send personal information.
    
  • Generalised emails with no specific personal information.
    
  • A small padlock icon being missing from your browser bar when an email links to a website. If it's not there, the website is unlikely to be secure.
    
  • A large number of recipients in the ‘To’ field, or your own email address appearing in the ‘From’ field.
    

• What can you do to stay email safe?

  Here are general rules of thumb for keeping your email account safe:

  • Don’t open an email if you don’t recognise the sender or suspect that it’s spam - just delete it.
    
  • Be wary of phrases such as ‘forward this to everyone you know!’, ‘make sure you see this!’ or ‘this is NOT a hoax’.
    
  • Poor grammar, spelling mistakes or incorrectly formatted pictures – reputable companies won’t make these mistakes.
    
  • Never enter personal or account information, click on any links or open attachments from a suspect email. If you have, change your account password immediately and consider changing those on any other accounts you’ve recently accessed from the same device. Make sure the new one is strong and is made up of at least six characters and a combination of letters, numbers and symbols. Never use a password that you’ve used before.
    
  • Comprehensive computer security software, or antiviruses, will include spam filters. Make sure your software is updated to the latest version.
    
  • If you’re on a shared computer, don’t tick remember my Sky iD and password or Keep me signed in, and always sign out when you’re finished.
    

  Sky Broadband Shield is our online protection tool available for free to all Sky Broadband customers. It can help you control what your family accesses online, and helps protect you from phishing and malware-infected websites.

  For help setting up and managing Sky Broadband Shield read our Sky Broadband Shield explained article.

  Alternatively, Sky Broadband or Fibre customers can benefit from 12 months free McAfee Internet Security Suite for up to three PCs, or a three-month free trial if you have Sky Broadband Lite.

  Please note that McAfee Internet Security is not available to download for Mac. 

• How can you report suspicious behaviour?

  If you’ve received a suspicious email, report it by selecting the email and clicking Spam. Depending on the circumstances, you can use the down arrow next to Spam to select one of the below options:

  • Report a hacked account if the email has come from a friend or someone you deem usually reliable.
    
  • Report a phishing scam if it’s an unsolicited email asking for personal or financial information.
    
  • Not my mail if you receive an email addressed to someone else.
    

  Reporting will help identify emails like these in the future.

  Sky has a team dedicated to preventing fraudulent or threatening emails. If you want to report one of our customers sending bulk or spam mail, or you’ve received a phishing email pretending to be from Sky, please forward it to abuse@sky.com. We’ll then take the appropriate action.

  If an email’s pretending to be from another company, contact the company directly using phone numbers obtained from trusted sources, such as their official website.

  If you suspect you’ve been a victim of fraud by phishing, you can report it to actionfraud.police.uk.

For more information on what any of the technical terms used above mean, visit our Security glossary.