BT Account locked

[El-Gringo]

Having had serious log in problems yesterday & this morning, I've just been locked out of my Email account due to "suspicious activity" but I cant see the required PIN to reset my password as I cant get into my email account on my PC or by my fingerprint ID on my phone. The additional work around's being suggested makes me think I'm being hacked/scammed; WTF are you up to BT????

[El-Gringo]

I’ve been locked out of my BT email account due to “suspicious activity on your email account” but can’t use any of the fixes BT advise to recover the account. I can’t update my anti virus protection as advised because I can’t gain access to my account as it’s blocked. I can’t use the recovery pin method because this is sent to my email account and I can’t gain access to my account as it’s blocked & I can’t access my email account. Entering details of my first bike/car does not work & I can’t even remember doing this. I can’t really phone as I am currently in Spain! What am I supposed to do now?

[El-Gringo · Accepted solution]

After 2 hours of very frustrated hacking around, I managed to get in & change my password so problem now solved.

[Leanne_T]

Hi there @El-Gringo 

Thanks for coming to the community and for updating the post to let us know you have resolved this. 

Have a lovely day 🙂

Leanne.

[El-Gringo]

Having sorted out my (primary) account, BT locked my wife's (secondary) account last night & I've had to go through the whole recovery procedure again for her account this morning. Can anyone tell me what BT are up to with this? Is it just their way of getting me to carry out security checks/update my passwords?  All very inconvenient really, especially for the primary account as I had no way  of getting access to a reset PIN - because I couldn't access may email account! Luckily, the reset PIN for my wife's account could be sent to my email address which is now working!  Could the "suspicious activity" BT are recording/reporting have anything to do with the fact I am currently in Spain & using a UK VPN proxy to connect to the internet?

[Leanne_T]

Hi there @El-Gringo

Thanks for coming back to me and letting us know this has now happened to the other account. 

If this happens again, please get in touch with our email support team and they will get the account looked into and see what has caused this to happen. 

Our Repeat log in failures to BT Email Help page has details on why the account may be locked. 

Leanne 🙂

[gg30340]

You should go into your MyBT profile and at the "Contact Details" enter a recovery email address that is not your BT email address and add a mobile number if you have one.

As regards getting locked out when in Spain, yes a VPN can cause that as can using public wifi hotspots. 

[El-Gringo]

Thanks for the tip about entering a recovery email address in my BT profile. I've been using a VPN during the 4 months a year we spend in Spain for many years & this is the first time I have ever had serious problems. These seem to have coincided with BT recently upgrading their IT & security systems  which wasn't really communicated to me in any meaningful way prior to the problems occurring. Systems upgrade shouldn't be causing problems that previously didn't exist, many people use VPN's both abroad & in the UK for various reasons & BT should not be upgrading systems to the point that causes problems because someone uses a VPN. In total, the time it's taken me to sort out these two email lock outs & then having to download/set up the new BT Apps (now need two instead of one) on our mobile devices amounts to around 6 hours. I'm reasonably tech savvy but god knows how lesser beings make head or tail of the latest BT changes & get their services up & running again!

[gg30340]

I visit Spain at least twice a year, the most recent less than a month ago, and I have never had any problems with my BTMail accounts. I use the free Bluemail app on two devices that I use when abroad. I do not use a VPN as I see no need to do that as I never use wifi hotspots choosing to either use 4/5g connection or a trusted wifi connection.

The BTMail app is in my opinion a very poor app and I would suggest that you try one of the far better free email apps or the one that came pre installed on your mobile device.

If you are using a laptop or PC I would suggest trying the free Thunderbird email client.

[licquorice]

I too never have any trouble in Spain, having just returned earlier this week.

I also use Blue Mail and don't use VPNs.