Hi.
I have exactly the same problem. I moved to a non-VM serviced home in spring 2021. As with all the other aspects of the move, I carefully planned how I would handle my family’s email addresses being lost. I fully expected to lose access and confirmed that with VM before the move. All of these were accounts where passwords were managed from the master VM email address used to log in the media account. To point out too, I’d created some of these addresses in 1999 when NTL first took over Cambridge Cable! So there was a lot of info held there.
I had always used POP to download email one of my PCs periodically. So all my important stuff, like purchase information, bills etc was not going to be lost to me by VM deleting the accounts.
What I did not expect was:
- some addresses still able to send and receive using IMAP nearly three years after leaving VM. I was told at the time that after about 3 months they would be deleted.
- some addresses receiving concerning email asking for ransom, just like you mention.
- emails containing the correct account password suggesting that the account may have been hacked. As soon as this happened, about a year ago, I contacted VM through this forum. I gave all the addresses and was told the accounts would be closed. On checking recently , all 10 accounts remain ‘deliverable’.
- No ability to manage of change passwords because as soon as you leave VM you can no longer log in to your old media account where this is done.
The VM Forum Team person I dealt with in 2022 was very helpful. After asking me a few security questions, she took all the addresses, logged a request to close them and said ‘keep me posted’. When I recently replied to that conversation thread, I received a curt ‘please don’t PM Forum Team members directly’ message back. Despite the conversation still being active.
I was asked to log the same forum request again as a new request. Although the Forum Team person I dealt with in 2022 is still active I am now dealing with someone else. A week in, we are still ping-ponging security questions for an account I closed nearly three years ago. Fortunately, I keep my own data records and can answer the questions so far!
I am optimistic that we will get the accounts closed but cannot believe how difficult it is to achieve.
Even if I rejoin VM again in the future, I would never use an email address managed by them gain. If seems their responsibility to help you follow their own security advice ( https://www.virginmedia.com/help/security/how-to-keep-your-online-account-secure ) only applies while you are a customer.
Apologies if this does little to help you resolve your problem. Just want to share my own experience. And what you might expect when dealing with the VM Forum Team, who I suspect are doing their best with a flawed system.
A quick scan of previous forum threads reveals a worrying number of similar concerns dating back just as long as mine. This suggests that containment measures are still being applied on a customer by customer basis rather than fixing the root cause in VM’s account closure process.
The information security concern here is very real and I cannot believe that a company as big as VM have such a lax attitude to it.
Good luck with getting your accounts wound up securely.
