[Exim] /etc/aliases

This is probably a stupid question, i am sorry

I am having a problem getting exim to read the aliases file.
The server was previously sendmail and used entries like below:

accounts:       jenniferv@???, niveshm@???
dns-admin:        tom@???, support@???

however, exim keeps giving me the error:

temporarily rejected RCPT accounts@???: error in redirect data:
malformed address: :jenniferv@???
may not follow niveshm@??? in
"niveshm@???:jenniferv@???"

Please assist.

Thank you in advance

Tom Kinghorn