Franz Heymann wrote:
:: My apologies for this totally OT post, but i would lioke to hear if
:: any urgler has any advive to offer me. I received an email from
:: what appears to be my ISP, namely BT/Yahoo, from which the
:: following is an extract:
::
:: As part of a worldwide initiative aimed at reducing junk email
:: (spam) and email viruses, all email providers are switching to
:: what is known as 'authenticated SMTP'. SMTP stands for Simple Mail
:: Transfer Protocol, which enables the sending of email.
:: Authentication is a method of identifying the origin of emails
:: that stops emails being sent anonymously.
::
:: I trust essentially no organisation which sends me unsolicited
:: emails, and would appreciate it if any urgler would reassure me
:: that this is a genuine letter, and that I should carry out the
:: requested action which appears later in the letter, and which I
:: have not bothered to copy here.
::
:: Once again, apologies, and thanks in advance for any help.
::
:: Franz

Without seeing the full headers (with your personal email address snipped
out of course) it's nigh on impossible to work out whether it's a phishing
scam or the genuine article, TBH, I'd come down on the side of it being a
scam as you've already been using SMTP for years along with everyone
else...if it's requesting personal information such as usernames and
passwords then it's almost certainly a scam as your ISP already has these
and could make any adjustments without your knowledge or permission - the
space within your inbox etc belongs to them and they rent it to you for your
monthly subscription charge....either post the headers or wait and see.