Keep your email account safe

Change your password

Reset your password straight away. Make sure the new one is strong and is made up of at least eight characters and can be a combination of upper or lower case letters and numbers. Sky passwords are case sensitive. Never use a password that you've used before.

Check your account information

To view and change your account information you need to use a compatible browser, such as Safari, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox or Microsoft Edge. Internet Explorer is not supported.

1. Go to sky.com/myaccount and sign in with your Sky iD.

2. Depending on what device you're using:

   • PC/laptop: Select your name/username in the top right corner, then select Yahoo Mail and you'll be taken to your inbox.
   • Mobile / tablet: Select the menu (3 lines) in the top left corner, then select Yahoo Mail and you'll be taken to your inbox.

   If you're using a mobile / tablet, complete these extra steps:

   • Android device (must use Chrome): Tap the 3 dots in the top right of the Chrome window then select the option for “Desktop Site”. The website will then reload as the desktop version.
   • Apple device (must use Safari): Press & hold the Refresh icon at the end of the address bar. Select the option that appears to “Request Desktop Site”. The website will then reload as the desktop version.

If the mailbox doesn't load as the desktop version automatically, go back to sky.com and re-open Sky Yahoo Mail.

3. Select the cog icon / Settings option in the top right corner of your Sky Yahoo Mailbox then select More Settings from the bottom of the menu that appears.

4. Use the menu options on the left hand side to check if any changes have been made to your email settings that you're not aware of.

5. Make sure you click Save if you make any changes in any of the below sections.

Information changes to look out for include:

Mailboxes

• Your full name – 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.

• Check your out-of-office response hasn't been changed.

Filters:

• 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.

• Sometimes, a filter can be set up and named as a full stop. These can be very difficult to spot – click under “Add new filter” then the trash icon to make sure this isn't left in place.

Security and Privacy:

• Check your banned email addresses are correct and remove any blocked email addresses that you haven't blocked or banned yourself.

  6. If you’re missing emails from your inbox, it’s important to check your other folders for the missing email (Including Spam, Archive & Deleted Items).

  7. If you use Sky email through an email app or program (like Apple Mail or Outlook), follow the Getting started with Sky Yahoo Mail steps to set up a secure app password for your device.

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.

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 might 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.