The Last Straw

Yahoo.com email positively will not allow me to login now, without changing my password, period. I feel my password is none of their business, if I choose to leave it alone. Therefore, that account is dead as far as I'm concerned. As it is, I have far too many passwords to have to remember, "don't write them down, don't tell a friend, etc."

Am I being a hard-headed old fool? A machine providing a service is telling me what to do. That I resent. How do others handle this final "intrusion"?

Frank

 

I agree Frank - as good as the internet is, sometimes its just too much hassle

 

@Frank Sanoica, are you sure that it's really from yahoo? I also have a yahoo email and I sometimes receive emails purportedly coming from yahoo but not really. Some of the common subject is about reaching the maximum storage allowed so I have to click on the link to upgrade my account otherwise my email account will be locked. Another is about the password but I don't exactly remember the instruction.

You can click reply to check on the email address of the sender. You can then determine if it's a genuine yahoo warning or just a spamming email or phishing for your information.

 

A hard-headed old fool? you are being too hard on yourself, @Frank Sanoica.

This is the first time I heard of such a requirement. I have Yahoo email too and been with them for years but never received such an email. @Corie Henson has made some valid points to follow through on.

I keep a list of all my user names and passwords on a spreadsheet for quick reference and make updates when necessary noting the date of the changes. This is something that you may want to consider doing. I also categorized my emails by folders which is helpful for those I want to keep for future reference.

 

I think it's a phising scam as @Corie Henson suggests. I have gmail and hotmail accounts - it has happened to me with hotmail and was a phising scam. Never happened with gmail (thus far).

I do keep a note of passwords in a notebook so that when I pop my clogs my daughter can have access to and sort out my on-line, virtual life.

 

Like @Yvonne Smith, I have basic passwords that I alter on various sites. I have tried writing them down, but then have lost the list, so I usually just go through a bunch to see which works, when I'm required to log in. I have been prompted to change my password on Yahoo, but as far as I recall, only when I've gone over the amount of tries they give me (usually 3, I think), or otherwise forget it.

I agree, it could be a scam. There are so many scammers and spammers, they sure do make life on the internet, as well as life in general, more difficult.

 

I did not explain adequately, I see. I did not get an email, but rather a refusal by Yahoo to allow me to login to my account without changing the PW.
Frank

 

I had issues with Yahoo, in the past mostly from receiving tons of spam from them into my other email accounts. I felt that 800 to 1000 a day was a bit much and closed out my account and the spam stopped. However, this is a bit different as in requiring you to change your password. If it was my main e-mail I might change it to get any important emails and let everyone know I was closing account and switching to another provider or deal with it.
I put all my passwords in a notebook. That way I don't have to worry about remembering them all. I have friends who stay logged into their accounts and never put in a password until computer problems crop up and someone deletes their cookies and browsing history, etc... and then they panic because they never wrote down passwords or friends email addresses.
It is a matter of choice but I would say they are trying to help you protect your account. Just add a number at the beginning of your password and one at the end. That should make their computer happy and make your password easy for you to remember.

 

@Sandy Wood
Sandy, I tried adding numbers, it just said "weak password, not acceptable", got flustered, and gave up. Frank

 

I've had a yahoo account for years, and have never been told I "had to" change my password. I don't understand why you are. The only time I have ever had to change it was because I forgot my old email, and for security purposes, I had to reset it. I think that was with Yahoo. Maybe it was Facebook. Anyway, I've not been told by gmail or Yahoo that I have to change my password.

So are you sure you are typing in your email password correctly Frank? That can lock you out, and it's really a security policy that helps you make sure someone else is not trying to login.

 

This has been my only issue with them. I know longer get a lot of spam on either of my email accounts and I think it's due to two, main things. One is, I have my "filters" set up to only allow emails with certain info to pass through, and if they don't have that info, I have selected "delete". The other is not clicking on ads, or venturing to unknown sites by way of links or ads like I see a lot of on Facebook. I just have AVG free for my anti-virus, and it does have an email "checker" as well that automatically checks my incoming emails. I still get some spam, but maybe like 30 a week, I think maybe less.

 

@Frank Sanoica, I don't know how long you have been dealing with this but take a deep breath, walk away, think of a new password. Most passwords usually recommend more than 6 digits to be 'strong'.

 

I have about 3 different passwords I use, I don't write them down because I've used them a long time. So etimes I forget which password was for what account but with only 3 different ones I eventually pick the right one.

My passwords are strong as some contain a different language.

 

Those are good ideas, adding a number in the beginning, and using a foreign language. I usually add a few numbers at the end, but I don't like when sites require symbols, yet when you go to sign in, don't prompt you that the passwords require that, since I only add those on when absolutely necessary. I've been locked out of a few accounts for that reason.

I'd say just go ahead and try to reset it with something more substantial than you usually use. Companies are tightening up because there are so many hackers and spammers these days, and I've been prompted lately to make my passwords more secure on a few sites, but not on Yahoo, that I recall. That's probably because I got locked out a few months back and strengthened the password on my own, though.