Email abuse takes many forms, for example: unsolicited commercial email, unsolicited bulk email, mail bombs, email harassment, email containing abusive or offensive content. The format for submitting reports to the abuse department regarding abuse of email is always the same whatever the offence.

What to include in a report

- The email header. This enables us to trace the journey that an email has made from the computer from which it originated to the computer to which it was downloaded. Understandably, the header is vital to any investigation that we conduct into an incident. - The content of the email. This allows us to decide if any other abuse of the service has occurred in addition to the email abuse being reported. - A brief description of why you wish to make the report.

Retrieving an email header

The procedure for retrieving an email header will vary from mail client to mail client however the advice listed below may be of some use.

To retrieve email headers from Outlook Express for Windows:

- With the mail unopened in your inbox. - Right click on the mail. - Choose "properties". - Click on the "details" tab at the top of the "pop-up" box. - Press "message source".

To retrieve email headers from Outlook Express for Macintosh:

- With the mail unopened in your inbox. - Click "View". - Click "Source". - To select all use: command + A. - To copy use: command + C. - To paste the header use: command + V.

To retrieve email headers from Outlook 98 and 2000:

- Double click the message to open into a separate window. - Click "View". - Click "Options". - Copy the text in the Internet Headers window using the mouse.

Reporting abuse overview

Make a report to the Virgin Media Security

To retrieve headers in Netscape Messenger:

- Click "View" from the menu items. - Click "Headers". - Click "All". - All messages you view will show the whole header. - Copy the header and email content.

To retrieve headers in Fort-agent 1.5 to 1.8:

- Press Ctrl + R. - Press Ctrl + A to select all of the text. - Press Ctrl + C to copy the text.

To retrieve headers in Claris Emailer:

- Click "Setup". - Click "Preferences". - Click "Incoming Messages". - Select "Show Headers By Default". - Select "Long Headers".

To retrieve headers from Hotmail:

- Click "Options". - Go to "Additional Options". - Click "Mail Display Options". - Go to "Message Headers". - Choose "Advanced". - Click "OK". - To view headers choose "View Email Message Source" while viewing the message.

To retrieve headers from Excite Web Mail:

- View the message. - Select the option "Save To Disk". - Open the file with a text editor.

Reporting abuse overview

Make a report to the Virgin Media Security