OT: BT/Yahoo email 'verificatrion' confusion

I'm thoroughly lost in trying to use the instructions at
http://bt.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/10903/c/

I was directed there after getting an email telling me that my btinternet
email address would no longer work until it had been 'verified', following
some new security measure imposed without warning by either BT or Yahoo.


"Follow the steps below:"

IF ONLY I COULD!

"1. Go to http://bt.yahoo.com/webmail. You will need to log in with
your BT Yahoo! username and password (your username is your email address,
which will usually end in btinternet.com or btopenworld.com)."

I WAS ALREADY LOGGED IN WHEN I FIRST TRIED THIS. SO (JUST TO GET AS CLOSE
TO THE INSTRUCTIONS AS POSSIBLE) I SIGNED OUT, WENT TO THAT PAGE AGAIN,
AND SIGNED IN ONCE MORE. THAT GOT ME TO THE SAME PAGE AS BEFORE, NAMELY MY
EMAIL INBOX.

2. Click on Mail to go into the webmail screen.

THERE IS NO 'MAIL' TO CLICK.

3. Click Options in the upper-right corner of the page.

THERE IS AN OPTIONS LINK, WITH DROP-DOWN ARROW, (BETWEEN 'MOBILE' AND
'HELP', TOP RIGHT)

* If you're using the "all new" BT Yahoo! Mail you will be presented
with a drop down menu. Click Mail Options. You then need to select
Accounts from the menu on the left, then the Add or edit an account link
that will appear.

CLICKING THE ABOVE EXPANDED THE DROP-DOWN MENU, BUT THERE'S NO 'MAIL
OPTIONS' IN IT. JUST 'COLOURS', 'SHOW', 'MORE OPTIONS', 'IMPORT CONTACTS',
'ADD APPLICATION', 'MAIL CLASSIC...', 'SET BTY! MAIL AS DEFAULT WEBMAIL'.
THE 'MORE OPTIONS' LINK WASN'T ANY USE. NOR 'MAIL CLASSIC...'

So I cannot proceed further. In short, I'm totally confused. Not just by
the mis-match between the instructions above but also because both BT and
Yahoo pages and configurations seem to be involved in getting all this
sorted.

Does anyone know what's going on here? More important, how to restore my
previously working (E-Mail Removed) email address please?

--
Terry, East Grinstead, UK

Brian Gregory [UK] wrote:
> "Terry Pinnell" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>> I'm thoroughly lost in trying to use the instructions at
>> http://bt.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/10903/c/
>>
>> I was directed there after getting an email telling me that my
>> btinternet email address would no longer work until it had been
>> 'verified', following some new security measure imposed without
>> warning by either BT or Yahoo.
>
> Never ever do what such an email tells you.
>
> They are almost always fakes intended to steal your username and
> password.

In actual fact, I think the link above *is* genuine but depending on your
email client, that might have just been the displayed URL in the email
rather than where the link actually took you. The address shown in an html
email isn't necessarily where the link goes.

In OE, if you look at the bottom left corner of the frame around your email,
you can see the actual address that the link is taking you to.

In general, 99% of those emails telling you log in via a link in an email
*are* bogus. Always login via the proper site using your browser, not a
link in an email.

Tim

Java Jive <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>Yes, often they are, but possibly not in this case. I cannot really
>tell either way.
>
>However it is definitely true that Yahoo keep upgrading their email
>systems, or perhaps they're just trying to get everyone off their old
>one so that they can discontinue support for it. I've lost count of
>the times I've had prompts of various kinds from Yahoo that I should
>be using their all new singing and dancing email system, but I find
>that every such change is accompanied by so much useless clutter that
>gets in the way of my logging in to Yahoo just to read emails -
>apparently these days I should be wasting my family's and friends'
>time by telling them what I'm doing every minute of the day instead.
>
>It's just the same with Google, it doesn't seem to be possible to turn
>off most of the cr*p associated with having an account, including that
>which is supposed to enhance your online searching, the result of
>which is simply that I find it much more difficult than I should to
>ascertain how my own site performs in Google.
>
>On Tue, 24 Aug 2010 15:35:27 +0100, "Brian Gregory [UK]"
><(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>>
>> Never ever do what such an email tells you.
>>
>> They are almost always fakes intended to steal your username and password.

Thanks all. I think this one is perfectly genuine, having now seen several
posts about it. Many sites point to that instruction page.

The strange thing is that I gave up trying to 'verify', but on checking
email again an hour or so later I could send and receive to/from my
btinternet.com address again.

I'm just guessing, but maybe BT and/or Yahoo have recognised the mess they
caused and removed whatever restriction they'd imposed?

--
Terry, East Grinstead, UK

Brian Gregory [UK] <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> But why on earth would either BT or Yahoo feel they needed to host a help
> page on a site belonging to an obscure US company? Even if they ignore the
> fact that using a different domain makes it look like a phishing attempt
> what possible reason could they have for thinking it made sense to put the
> page there?

Various UK companies subcontract some of their customer services to
custhelp. For example:

http://eurostar-en.custhelp.com/
http://fgw.custhelp.com/
http://btbusiness.custhelp.com/
http://easyjet.custhelp.com/

I have no idea why they aren't given virtual domains of the customer (eg
custhelp.easyjet.com).

Theo