Hi Zoie, many thanks for replying. It's a virginmedia.com email address and on my laptop I access it through their own webmail programme.
The problem has actually been resolved. After calling VM customer support and not really getting anywhere, I received an email saying that my email may have been compromised and I should take the following actions:
a. Do a full virus scan on your device with up-to-date anti-virus software
b. Reset your MyVM password to something new, unique to this account and secure.
c. To unlock your mailbox, please go to Account settings. Then click the Virgin Media Mail settings tile. Next, click Generate new App password. Your account should then be accessible
d. If using an email client, ensure you update the settings with the new App Password
e. If you notice any suspicious activity or have any concerns about your primary mailbox or additional mailboxes, please contact us at
abuse@virginmedia.comAfter resetting your password, your mailbox will automatically be unlocked after 15 minutes.
I followed these steps (nothing found in scans of my devices) and everything is now back to normal. The step I hadn't tried before was setting a new app password, which requires the use of a different email account and address. This seems puzzling at first to a regular user and indeed the customer support person I spoke to earlier (before receiving the above instructions) told me I didn't need to do that. We got stuck on my memorable word, which I couldn't remember, and the call ended with the promise that I would receive a letter through the post about resetting it, following which I should contact customer support again...
I wonder now if the problem would have been solved if I'd followed all these steps in the first place (the day before I received the email telling me to do this). If anyone else has the same problem it may be worth them trying without contacting customer support or waiting for an email.
