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scam verify microsoft account?

I have now received 6 e-mails in 24 hours from the Microsoft account team thanking me for verifying my account, giving me a pin code and recommending me to go to account.live.com and change the password if I did not request the code. I have seen several on-line discussions about this some saying it is a scam. Most end up going to private communication. I think it is a scam. Is it and what is the solution? I have summarised briefly what I did below.

1. When I saw the 2 messages first thing in the morning I panicked and I went to the account.live.com link.
2. Having changed the password I got worried as I saw that the hotmail account name was not exactly mine - an underscore added but difficult to see as all text was underlined. So within 2 or 3 minutes of changing my Outlook password I went directly into my Outlook account, my gmail account and my skype account and changed all 3 passwords.
3. 2 hours later I got exactly the same type of e-mail from the Microsoft account team but now with my correct outlook address. Seemed to confirm my worst fears - it looked like a hacker had picked up info from me using the link to account.live.com - but thankfully I had changed the passwords again directly through my accounts.
4. Later last night I got 3 more e-mails from the Microsoft account team all at the same time. These reverted back to the incorrect hotmail name used at the start.. I am ignoring them for now.

I may be somewhat paranoid but none of the above looks like the normal behaviour of a professional Microsoft team or system.

I have run AVG and Msoft safety scanner - no problems found. I have tried using the Msoft Security Support Centre and the Get Support sites - these can both be accessed but both of them do not work. So now I am trying the forum. Please can someone help.

Thanks AJD.
Answer
Answer

Hi cynwit,

 

Thank you for posting your issue in Microsoft Community.

 

We understand your concern about the security of your account and we will assist you. I would like to inform you and as mentioned by AJD 62  that the email you have received is a form of Phishing scam and the intention is to steal your personal information. If you have replied to a phishing email with your billing or other critical information, your account may be compromised.

 

Scammers may misuse your personal information to access your account, make unauthorized transactions, send out fraudulent emails or engage in other illegal activities. Similarly, if you have clicked on a suspicious link, your computer may get infected with a virus, spyware or malware.

Please be reminded that Microsoft will not send emails asking for personal information. I highly suggest for you to Mark as Junk and Mark as Phishing any emails from that sender and disregard it by deleting the message. To learn more about Phishing scams, you can read this article:

How to recognize if the email I have received is genuine or spam/ phishing?

You can also report this to our Microsoft Online Safety Team. To do this, please refer to this article for more information:

 

Report abuse, phishing, or spam in Outlook.com


Please do not entertain this type of email and report it to us.

 

Kindly let us know the results. Your cooperation and understanding is highly appreciated.

 

Thanks!

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Hi JohnHowe2,

Thank you for bringing this to our attention. Does the email you've received has a Green Icon on the email header? If so, we can say that it is a legitimate email from Microsoft. And since you can confirm that you did not request for this code, then someone is trying to request a code to gain entry to your account. Having that said, changing your password and updating your account is the primary action we have to take. This will protect your account from unauthorized access. To do so, please refer to the link below:

Reset Password

Furthermore, please visit the article below on how to strengthen the security on your Microsoft account:

Make your Microsoft account more secure

Should you have other questions regarding Outlook.com, please do not hesitate to use this forum so we, as well as the community, can help you resolve the issue for you.

Regards,

Francis S.

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Last updated January 5, 2024 Views 313,281 Applies to: