Cant change my email password

[colingardner]

I need to change my email password, yet it keeps going on a merry go round keeps saying verify your identity and asking for my email address again and again.

Is my VM passport the same as my email login?

[coenoby]

@colingardner 

I must admit that I have never heard of a "VM passport" so I may have completely misunderstood what you are asking.

However here are the most recent instructions on how to reset the password for your VM email account  and My Virgin Media account. (The password is the same for both accounts).

Sorry this all seems complicated but that's how VM email is these days.

These instructions do assume that you are still a VM broadband customer. If you no longer have a VM broadband account then there may well be problems for you.

• Sign into the My Virgin Media Account for your VM email address by entering your VM email address and then the current password here https://www.virginmedia.com/my-virgin-media
• Then go to Account Settings then Account details, scroll down to Sign In details
• Scroll down to and click on "edit" to the right of password.

Then, this next part may be what you refer to when you say "verify your identity and asking for my email address again and again" .

VM have recently changed the security on their email accounts so that you now have to specify a non VM email account (so a Gmail, Outlook or any other email account not provided by VM) to become the username for signing into your VM webmail and My Virgin Media accounts.

Follow the instructions,

• enter a non VM email address that you have access to and that you wish to associate with your VM account. 
• VM will then send a verification email to that address
• Go to that email account and follow the instructions to verify it
• Then  you can reset the password for the webmail account and the associated My Virgin Media account.
• To access either of those accounts in future you will need to use the non VM email address as the username(rather than you VM email address) and the new password you have just reset.

A second change that VM have made is that you need to use a separate Mail app password in email apps such as Microsoft Outlook or an email app on your phone. To do that:

• Go back to the Account settings and scroll click down to the Virgin Media Mail section and click on Manage your Virgin Media Mail app password .
• Then scroll down to the bottom of that page and click on Generate new App password and follow the instructions.

A new secure password will be generated for you. This Mail app password needs to be used for all apps accessing your VM mail account. Therefore you’ll need to update the settings in Thunderbird with the new Mail App password.

Remember that the Mail app password is separate from your sign in details and password  for My Virgin Media and VM Webmail.

If you need to check your VM email account using the VM website you’ll still use your My Virgin Media password.

I hope that helps, a bit at least.

Coenoby.

[colingardner]

It's not letting me change my password, only my email address, I need to change my password asap as I'm getting extortion emails that's originating from my own.

[Graham_A]

@colingardner As explained by @coenoby in his post Virgin Media now require you to change the account username to a third party email address before you can change the account password.  This is all explained here: https://www.virginmedia.com/dpb/help/change-my-virgin-media-email-address

[colingardner]

Thanks, I was able to change my password to something more stronger.

Regards

Colin

[coenoby]

---

@colingardner wrote:

I need to change my password asap as I'm getting extortion emails that's originating from my own.

---

I am pleased to see that you have changed your password.

However, the scammers who send extortion emails such as you have been receiving rarely, if ever, have access to your email account.

It is not difficult to send an email with a "spoof" (fake)  sender's address. Scammers do that all the time to make a scam email appear to come from a bank or other respected organisation for example.

In the case of these extortion emails.they make them appear to come from your email account to scare you into believing that they have access to your information and know everything that you do online. They do it to scare you into meeting their demands.

I'm guessing that they probably included your password in their email. They often do.

However, many people have seen that the password the scammer quotes is either an out of date one or one that they used with a different online account rather that their email account. 

I am only saying this so that if you do continue to receive such emails it does not necessarily mean that the scammer has regained access to yourVM email account.

If you do receive any similar emails in future, forward it to report@phishing.gov.uk which is the email address of the NCSC's (Nation Cyber Security Service) Suspicious Email Reporting Service, and then delete it.

Coenoby

[malandphil71]

I’m having the same problem and I really have no idea what todo. I find it all very confusing, why do I need to change my email to change the password? . I have been told there has been a data leak and I need to change my password….not my email!  I am so not tech savvy and cannot figure out how all this works. HELP!! 

[Ayisha_B]

Hi @malandphil71 👋

Welcome back to our Community and thanks for your post.

What happens when you try to reset your password?

We have some info 👉 here that may help.

[malandphil71]

When I try to reset my password it says change my email!! I don’t want to change my email and I don’t have another email address. The list of information you sent was no help whatsoever….absolute gobbledegook for me, it all goes straight over my head. I have no idea what I’m doing as not at all tech savvy. I am worried as it says there has been a data leak and I need to change my password. I’ve done this on several other sites before and have no problem. I’m  wondering now if the data leak was from Virgin and now you want me to sign in from elsewhere and create a new email. All very suspicious! 

[Nathan_B]

Thanks for your reply, sorry to see you've not been able to do this.

I'll be happy to take a look at this further for you so I'll pop you a PM so this can be done.

Regards

Nathan