We notice you've been using iPlayer

javixeneize

Hi

I have received this email from TV License. As far as i am aware, no iplayer has been used at home, so i wonder from where they are getting that data.

Are they just checking that my email address has been connecting to iplayer, or are they checking the ip address from the connection? If it is the first option, this might mean my email address has been compromised, which is not good.

Any idea how they do that?

Thanks

PRAISETHESUN

If you're worried you have an iPlayer account you don't know about registered to your email address, then I'd suggesting going to the actual iPlayer site and trying to "reset" your password. If there is an account, you should then get password reset emails and be able to secure it. After that, I'd then recommend securing it and then asking for it to be closed and deleted. If not, then there's nothing to worry about. Plenty of sites let you sign up with any random email address, without any confirmation needed, so just because there is an account associated with your email address, doesn't mean your email is compromised, but it never hurts to change passwords and set up 2FA regardless.

As for the TV license email, I'd ignore it the same way you'd ignore a TV license letter. They are just chancing they can scare you into buying a license you don't need.

javixeneize

i will reset my email address then. i think this has not been used for 10 years or so, so im surprised that suddenly this happens.

However i had some friends at home some weeks ago, and i fear they might have been using iplayer with their account, so this is why i am asking if they are actually checking connections from my home (ip address, cookies etc) or just that the email address has connected to iplayer, but from somewhere else.

Thanks

wild666

I think they send these emails out occasionally, many ISP's don't give their users a set IP address but one from a bulk of IP addresses and any time you have an outage you could be given a new IP address. Maybe the IP address that you last used to access the BBC has being used by someone with a licence, or not, to access the iPlayer app on their site and if they don't have a licence they will just click I have a licence if a box pops up asking them if they have a licence.

PRAISETHESUN

It'll be purely co-incidental, and besides not everything on iPlayer requires a license to watch.

As best it'll probably just be cross-referencing somewhere that your email has been used to access iPlayer in the past - they won't be checking your home IP or anything or the like.

Peter999_2

PRAISETHESUN said:

It'll be purely co-incidental, and besides not everything on iPlayer requires a license to watch.

As best it'll probably just be cross-referencing somewhere that your email has been used to access iPlayer in the past - they won't be checking your home IP or anything or the like.

Everything on iPlayer requires a TV licence to watch it.

https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/check-if-you-need-one/topics/bbc-iplayer-and-the-tv-licence

matelodave

TBH I would not have even opened an E-mail from "TV License" just in case it was a scam and, as we use the spelling, Licence in the UK then its even more likely to be a scam or phishing exercise or even a virus.

If I'm not generally in communication with anyone or get an e-mail out of the blue from someone I dont know (and TV License come into that category) then I delete it without even looking at it.

If  TV Licencing  want to communicate with me then let them send a letter.

Swipe

Stop giving them your personal data and just bin the monthly letters and you won't get these emails

mongoose2009

sounds like a scam

brewerdave

Have to agree that it sounds like a scam - I noticed an email from "TV Licensing" in my Hotmail junk folder when I checked it recently. Deleted without looking !!

Cornucopia

TV Licensing do send emails like this.   They are based on matching email addresses between those provided when signing up for a BBC ID, and then using that to access BBC TV content on iPlayer AND addresses provided previously in the admin processes for a TV Licence or No Licence Needed process.

It means nothing in enforcement terms, not least because it is not robust proof of evasion (you can access iPlayer from anywhere).

iPlayer requires a TV Licence to access BBC TV content.  It does not require a Licence to access S4C content.