Sky TV customers warned over alert that makes you think someone is stealing your account – see if you could be affected

SKY TV customers have been warned not to panic over an alert that makes you think someone is stealing your account.

It’s much more innocent than it appears, as one customer found out earlier this week.

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In a help forum on Sky’s website, the customer wrote: “I just got a notification that a new device had been added to my account.

“When I checked in settings there was a Sky Falcin ES 240 device there.

“Does anyone know what that is, please? I’ve deleted it.”

As it turns out, the mystery device was actually their Sky Q box going by its codename.

It can throw you off when you see a device you don’t recognise on your account – particularly as cyber criminals get more savvy with their freeloading techniques.

However, it’s best not to panic and a little investigating first.

Your devices often have a hidden name that you might not recognise, which only appears when they are connected to an account, Wi-Fi network and Bluetooth.

The device ID is unique to the item, be it a Sky box or Bluetooth headphones.

This is used to identify the device during pairing and communication.

Typically, there is an option to change the name to something you’ll recognise, but sometimes there isn’t.

Therefore you’ll just need to familiarise yourself with the seemingly random combination of letters and numbers that is the codename for your device.

To check a your Sky device IDs, simply open the Sky Go app or follow the steps under Online on Sky.com.

Go to Settings > Manage your devices and you’ll see all your connected devices and their codenames.

If you have made a similar mistake, and panic deleted your Sky Q box from your network, simply follow these steps to get it connected again:

1. Press Home on your Sky Q remote, then go to Settings followed by Setup.
2. Select Network and then select Reset (if Reset is not visible, move to Step 4 below).
3. Wait for the Sky Q box to check your network, then select Confirm.
4. Once the reset is complete, choose Connect to Sky Broadband Wi-Fi and follow the on-screen instructions to connect your Sky Q box to your Sky hub.

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This post first appeared on Thesun.co.uk