We've blocked your email address...

[rpc69]

I've been struggling with a similar issue. 

BT have ‘protected’ my email on the grounds of some alleged suspicious activity on the account and are asking me to reset my password. However, I cannot do this as the security question they’re asking is not the same as the one I have set up and can see on MyBT.

I have phoned the customer services people twice – they can see the same question that I have set up but the one that appears on the security screen for me to reset my email password is completely different. I have tried providing the answer to both that question and the one that I think it should be asking me , but to no avail. According to BT, the other data that they have viz. date of birth and post code match what’s on the email account.

I’ve now spent at least an hour on the phone with BT but 1 week later and they still fob me off with saying the ‘email team are very busy but will look into it – there’s nothing we can do on our side’

[WeekendTechie]

You will have 2 security questions linked to your account. One is for your BTID (which I presume is the one that they can see and have updated at their side) However, if the security question you can see is also asking for postcode and date of birth on the same screen then its likely to be the security question that's linked to the email. This is held on a separate system and needs to be sent off to be updated. In addition, the postcode may not match whats currently on your account. It could be a postcode from as far back as when you first set up the email address. E-Mail staff should be able to see this information in Directory and Profile but line and broadband agents do not have access to this system.

Request that the agent send a request to "Tier 2" for an update of security information on the backend system as this is information that frontline staff cannot update sadly

[rpc69]

Thanks for that.  I have however  tried all combinations of post codes and security answers but to no avail.   I also don't understand how I am supposed to change the security questions on a back-end system that I can't see / have access to?   The two agents I spoke to said they were sending a request to the email support team, but like I said it's been 7 days now. 

[WeekendTechie]

You would not be able to update the information. This is why it would need to be raised to a backend team within BT for it to be updated. I know at the moment they are very busy (as evidenced in other posts) but as long as the agent you have spoken to has taken updated security information from you this should be done in the background for you

[Andy_N]

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@clackerswrote:

I don't know if I have capacity to understand how someone can send spam seemingly from me without accessing my email account. 

If this has happened I presume it would keep going and BT will keep suspending my access. Do you have any idea how this could be stopped or fixed. Is it worth trying the helpline another forum member posted. Is my email address rubbish now?

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Spammers simply spoof the email address in their spam run. I assume you've had email spam sent to you? The "From" address in the spam is not the sender, their spamware system has added the email address in their spam run. It can be anything they want, it can be invalid, but more often than not it's an actual email address of someone.

Invariably the "From" address is different in their spam run rather than the same one. This is to prevent anti-spam systems from potentially blocking. They sometimes do use the same address, and that can be to try to make an organisation look bad. Indeed some ISPs have actually blocked receipt of legitimate company emails. TT did this with cisco a few years ago because spammers were using the cisco domain in their spam run.

There is nothing that can presently be done about this, and BT systems are stupidly and blindly saying that user email addresses are compromised when they are not. BT mail techs need to take note, and the BT Mail expert that has posted in these forums never answers any questions. The BT mail system is totally unfit for purpose.

Others reporting the same issue in this thread or other posts in these forums are seeing an issue caused by BT mail systems, possibly due to the restart of the migration from BTYahoo to BTMail.

I have myself seen this "blocked" email address issue on a few of my old legacy addresses in the past few days. This is without doubt a system failure. My address are not used, but I do check them every few days and nothing has happened until now.

There is a fault with the system, and I don't expect to get any answers anytime soon.

[Andy_N]

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@WeekendTechiewrote:

You would not be able to update the information. This is why it would need to be raised to a backend team within BT for it to be updated. I know at the moment they are very busy (as evidenced in other posts) but as long as the agent you have spoken to has taken updated security information from you this should be done in the background for you

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This isn't going to happen.

People can't simply phone up with a problem and give "new" security answers unless they can prove that the email address in question is theirs. Otherwise anyone can phone up with any email address and get access to it.

[WeekendTechie]

You are correct. The tier 2 team then contact you and verify identity via other means such as recently sent emails, folder layout etc. They wont just randomly add new security information without first confirming identity. 

Validation should have been performed at point of contact with the customer service team as well but the tier 2 team will ALWAYS do additional checks

[rpc69]

trouble is

1. I live abroad and BT won't contact me on my foreign mobile number. The front end agent doesn't transfer me to the email back-end team, just says they've sent them a message and give me an ETA for a response

2. The alternate email details that they appear to have  associated with the email isn't the same alternate email that I have set up on myBT.  The old alternate email has been out of service for years - I changed the details on myBT at least 4 years ago.

3. The email that's been blocked  IS linked to myBT account so given that I know the security details to this,  why should they not change the password.  The only access I have is to myBT - why should someone else be responsible for changing my email details - this system doesn't make any sense to me

Oh dear - I feel I am stuck in a Kafkaesque nightmare and never destined to get my email back!  I just can't bear the thought of another hour on the phone to BT to get the same lack of response.

[Andy_N]

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@rpc69wrote:

trouble is

1. I live abroad and BT won't contact me on my foreign mobile number. The front end agent doesn't transfer me to the email back-end team, just says they've sent them a message and give me an ETA for a response

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Do you use a VPN?

Anyway, please see the email T&Cs here :-

https://www.bt.com/help/home/terms/

section 7a, i & ii

[WeekendTechie]

Yeah that's gonna be your downfall here. The Tier2 team will not call numbers outside of the UK. Andy has pointed to a very important clause in the T&C's which seems to be there for this exact reason 😞