Our domain name is due for renewal, and it is suddenly being used to send spam...anyone heard this before?

[Nightynight]

Domain name (which I have registered, but dont use yet) is due to run out in a few days. Last night, I sent an email to the host company, explaining that we no longer have an address in the UK, and can we still renew our domain name with them or not?
Almost immediately, I started getting hundreds of refused spam messages to my email address, and it is clear from the addresses that they are coming from faked email addresses, purporting to come from my domaine name, and forwarded to me by the web hoster.

coincidence that they started arriving just after the web hoster realises they are about to lose our business, or a familiar story?

Yes you can renew a UK domain and not be domiciled in the UK

Are you sure your domain isn't being used as a mail relay ? It sounds like it. Which ISP are you using?

it isnt a UK domain actually, it is a .com one. A surprising number of internet shops are only for residents of one country, so that's why I asked them. I couldnt find a link to change the country on their form.

I am pretty sure it is being used as a mail relay. Does that mean that the ISP has been hacked, or has a spammer just picked on my domain name and decided to use it? Does this sort of thing happen all the time, and they stop it normally? I am a bit unclear. It just seemed odd that it started the moment I sent them an email.

I am not sure what role the hoster has played in this, so I would rather not name them on here.