Why do I have a lot of people trying to sign into my account? Is it normal?

Hi & welcome too,

Hackers are opportunists & it is "normal"  for them to check out as many accounts as they can readily access.

If they find a weakness in someone's security they will try to exploit it to see if it will be of benefit to them.

Prevention is much easier / better that the cure!

FYI.

Some good advice below.

Help protect your account

Hacked Account

Create strong passwords.

Protect your privacy on the Internet.

Your information on the Internet: What you need to know.

Take charge of your online reputation.

How to report Abuse or Spam in Outlook.com

Two-step verification

Hi Apav,

So it looks like your account's being targeted. True, if you have an account that's been used for a long time and had been registered on many sites, sooner or later a hacker will attempt to access it. So far, Microsoft's security features are still able to protect your account, even though the password's been already stolen. However, I suggest three things that you can do to stop the attack.

You can either Add a new alias, then prevent your main address from being logged in. Turn on Two-step Verification on your account, or just create a new account.

An alias is basically another name for your Microsoft Account. So you can have two different email addresses that refer to the same Microsoft Account. What you can do is to add an alias first - something that the hackers won't know. Once you added an alias, you can set it as your Primary Alias. Technically, this will mean that the main 'name' of your account will be the one that you added.

After making the alias that you added as the Primary Alias, you will be able to disable the sign in option of your old name. When hackers try to login the old name of the account, they'll be told that the account does not exist. But despite not being able to login the old name, you will still be able to receive emails on that address from contacts and from sites that you used to register the account.

How to add an alias :

1. Go to : https://account.live.com and login your account.

2. Click on Your Info, then select Manage your sign-in email or phone number.

3. Cick Add email alias, and type in a new name for your Microsoft Account.

4. The new name should now be listed. Click Make Primary next to it.

5. The new name will now be listed as the Primary Alias. But the old name will still be listed there.

To disable the login of your old email address:

1. On the aliases page, click on Change sign-in preferences.

2. Uncheck the old name of your account, then click Save.

Two-Step Verification is an advanced security feature. As the name says, there will be "Two steps" to verify your account before you can access it. The first verification is your regular password. Once you've entered your password, you will be then asked for a security code. This is your second verification step. Once you provide a code on the process, you will be able to continue using your account.

So even if the hacker's attempt of logging in was not detected as "suspicious", they will still be asked for a code regardless, which only you can get, preventing them from accessing your account even if they have your password.

Not all apps and devices support the use of a "Security Code". So if you turn this on and you noticed that when you login your account the password's not accepted, it's possible you will need to get an "App Password". This is used on those apps and devices that doesn't support a code. This will be the "substitute" for a code, as you are the only one who can generate one.

To turn on Two-step Verification :

1. Go to https://account.live.com and login your account.

2. Click on Security & Privacy, then select More security settings.

3. Under Two-step Verification, click on Turn on Two-step Verification.

After turning it on, you'll be able to generate an App Password on the same Security Settings page.

And finally, creating a new account. This is a last-resort option if neither options did not work. If you do not have any important emails and/or services that has that account, feel free to export your contacts, notify your email contacts that you're moving to a new address, and create the new account.  If you do have important services, you may want to contact the support of each respective service regarding the transfer. They may be able to assist you in using the new email address as the login for those services.