Changing Virgin Media email passwords

[MHS1]

On the Mac, using Mac Mail, if I go to Mail/Accounts/click the (secondary) account, (or System Preferences/Internet Accounts/click the account), the password is ‘dotted’ out, and is 8 digits. I know what this is, although I am unable to see it.  If I overwrite this password with another, I get the message ‘unable to verify account name or password’. So when I overwrite with the original password, AOK.

If I log in to My Virgin Media, using the (secondary) account for which I wish to change the password, the password is different to the one above (9 digits).  Why are there two different passwords, and which is the one I should change for security reasons, in the event that that the email account might have been compromised?  And how to I change it/them?

[MHS1]

Thank you Graham_A for your help.  I have since contacted Virgin Media wrt my problem, and was told that they had no visibility of the email account for which I was trying to change the password, even though I have been using it for the past7 years!!  I have read somewhere that this account may have been 'orphaned', whatever that means.  I have now deleted the email account from my devices within Mac mail, but suspect that that the address is live and people are still getting spurious emails apparently from me.  Is there anything that can be done to address this?  Martin

[Graham_A · Accepted solution]

Orphaned email accounts is a term used to define email addresses that are no longer linked to a current VM broadband account.

If VM are telling you that the email addresses are not linked to your current VM broadband account then they should be able to get them permanently deleted for you.

[MHS1]

Thanks again, Graham.  I rang VM and asked them to permanently delete the rogue email.  After a while I was told it will be done, but could take up to a month!  Let's hope this is the end of the story!